Started car in the morning to get petrol as it was very low. idles poorly when cold so needs a bit of revving.  It stalled. Went to restart but the key is very worn and I could not get the steering lock off. Used the spare care instead. But it did nothing. gave up.

I thought it was the starter motor and began removing it to have a look but thought about it and realised it must be immobilised as I tried to bump start it earlier and got nothing.

put 6 litres of fuel in just in case. put jump leads to another car to make sure battery was fully charged.

tried the master key again and eventually got it to turn in the ignition. starter works. but not firing. just turning over.

tried the spare and nothing. tried turning it on and off 5 times or so and the red lights stop flashing and the car turns over with the spare. but take it out and back in and it doesn't.

red light was flashing constantly until i managed to get the master in.

no red flashing lights with master now. spare gets code 13.

 

whats going on?

 

UPDATE-

I think it was a coincidence when turning the spare 5 times or so and the motor turning. The master was on the same key ring and i think it just happened to swing close to the barrel and De-activated the immobilizer. I have tape the master to the barrel now and can use the two spares to at least turn over the motor.

Pulled top fuel lines from the inlet manifold. both pushing through fuel when trying to start.

pulled no.1 spark plug HT lead and held it close to rocker cover whilst starting and saw a spark. So NOT immobilized.

CPS wire that runs on top of the rocker cover was totally shot to bits. crumbling as soon as i touched it. bare wires were touching rocker cover and shorting themselves. unraveled them and tested but still not firing.

UPDATE2-

Tested all for spark plugs and got a spark from all of them

Pulled fuel injection rail. cranked engine and got a fine spray of fuel from all four injectors.

What next? Could this be a timing issue?

 

 

I guess the forum isn't what it used to be?

On 06/08/2016 at 10:51 PM, funuearhole said:

What next? Could this be a timing issue?

It looks like the spare key has no PATS chip (or it has broken).

"Code 1 : 3 = Key code not received. Is the key obscured, try again with different key, key may be damaged/faulty "

Code 1:5 would be Key not recognised.

 

The old adage to start a petrol engine is: Compression, Fuel, Ignition.

You have partly checked ignition & fuel, except, as you say for timing. How cheap /easy is the crank sensor to change on this car? Otherwise I am not sure how to test timing at cranking speed. Some sort of 'scope, or special tester may be needed. Not like the old coil & contact ignition where you could see what happens.

Though for the ignition, there is a difference between sparking in air, and in the cylinder under compression. It needs more volts there. I suggest using an old plug opened up to at least double normal gap for a spark test.

Then there is compression. Poor running when cold may be linked to this. Slow cranking (battery, solenoid or starter motor problems) can also cause poor compression. Try a compression test?

Best I can say, I am afraid.

Peter.