Fiesta 1996 won't start

[Finesta]

Hello everyone!

I have some strange problem with my Ford Fiesta from 1996. It’s driven 103 000 km and it’s in good shape.

It’s a Scandinavian model, with a 1.3 l Endura petrol engine and manual transmission.

It’s equipped with PATS but no alarm and no central locking.

 

THE PROBLEM

I parked my car after driving home. Nothing weird on the way home. After about 1 hour I got in the car and tried to start but I wouldn’t crank and no lights came on in the instrument cluster. The radio came on, interior lights and even the front lights worked. The indicators didn’t work, but the hazards did. The PATS Led was also dark. Clock worked, but not sure if the time was right. When turning the ignition switch to “ignition” the radio cuts, but nothing else happens, no crank, no click or anything.

 

PREVIOUS PROBLEMS

For some time the car had problems with the idle speed rising to about 4000 rpm for some seconds and the falling back  to about 1000 rpm. This happened sometimes while I was driving, but never straight after starting the car. This stopped when we checked the connectors in the engine compartment and sprayed connector spray in them. The problem was probably due to a damaged connector by the throttle body.

Other than that there hasn’t been any problems with the car.

 

WHAT I’VE DONE

-          Checked all the fuses and relays. All fine. Relays work.

-          Checked the battery. Power over 12V. Also tried disconnecting battery for about 5 mins.

-          Checked the Ignition switch. All connections work the way they should.

-          Checked OBD with OBCII –checker. Didn’t get any connection to the car.

-          Tried starting the car with the master and one slave key.

 

 

WHAT I’VE DISCOVERED

-          The Ignition relay (in the central relay box, behind the main fuses, beneath the instrument cluster) does get +12V, to the main path as well as the control path. The control path does not receive ground. When running a wire in place of the relay, the interior fan starts and the turn signals start to work. Nothing else seems to change.

 

-          The start relay (in the external fuse box, in the engine compartment) doesn’t receive 12V or ground to the control path. When hotwired the engine cranks, but doesn’t start.

 

-          Of the wires going to the PATS receiver, only the black-green wire is connected to the ground. None of the three others are connected to ground or 12V.

 

Any thoughts about what’s wrong?

 

Can the PATS lock the car this way? We have disconnected it many times, when looking for the problem.

Based on the fact that the OBD didn’t get a connection we’re thinking it’s the PCM that’s faulty. Any takes?

 

Thank you so much!

[Finesta]

Hi!

A bit disappointed, since no one replied anything here, but maybe I had missed something..

One member sent me an PM and helped me out. Big thanks to him!

 

After a lot of testing i found the fault.

It was the C61 connector, which comes straight after the ignition switch. Nothing damaged, but for some reason, the black wire (15) didn't meet the opposing green wire.

Tried hot wiring it and everything started as normal. An easy and cheap fix.
 

I should have looked at that, but I just assumed the connection was ok from the ignition switch to the fuses.

Should also have checked if there was any current at the fuses and not just if the fuses were ok.

Next time i won't assume anything and start with the basics.

 

Since I didn't find anything about my problem on the internet i post the solution here.

Hopefully someone with the same problem can find it from here.

 

 

[Birch]

Glad to see you got it sorted!