7 replies to this topic

[Pauljs]

Hi there

We have a 2004 Fusion 2 manual petrol. Been going fine until tonight. My wife went to start it and ..... nothing.

The dash lights all come on, all accessories work and when you turn the key, there is no dimming of the instruments. This obviously means we still have good power in the battery - I did even try attaching jump leads in case but made no difference.

I did swap a few fuses around in case the starter fuse or ignition fuse had blown, but nothing.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Many thanks

[daklore3003]

Starter motor may have gone to pot, have you tried a bump start?

[Pauljs]

Hi daklore3003

You think? There was just nothing turniong at all.

The only other thing I thought was that the key and immobiliser had lost their connection- would this be possible?

I did try hitting the starter with something really heavy, but the wife said her head was starting to hurt after the third attempt - joking - I did try using a spanner to hit the starter incase that was the issue, but still nothing. I'm not techy enough to start pulling things apart so might have to resort to a prof looking at it. :-(

The car is on a flat surface and as I was on my own and the roads were wet, didn't want to risk injury.

[daklore3003]

Yeah that can happen with starters internally or could be a bad connection, hitting them only really works if the solenoid is stuck, usually the still spin.

If it was immobiliser I think the immobiliser light would flash or stay on when key is in the start position. It could always be the barrel itself, but is unlikely as it seems to turn everything else on ok

Unless the starter is stuck, but I would expect to see lights go dim as it absorbed the current.

[Pauljs]

There was no dimming at all. However I didn't think about the immobiliser until early this morning and the car is 50 odd miles away from me so can't just go and check. Meeting a mechanic at the car later so will check while I wait.

You don't know off the top of your head what symbol illumminates for the immobiliser by any chance?

[WELSHPHILL]

try popping her in top gear and rocking the car back and forth (about two foot either way) this may un-stick a stuck starter...

but id try bump/push starting her first, if she starts with a bump start it's a starter/solenoid prob

[4titx]

Did you try a spare key and did it do the same?

Does sound like an immobiliser issue and the PATS didnt make the connection. You don’t have a lot of keys with your car key do you?

Starter motors have been pre-engage for a long time where the starter motor doesn’t turn until the solenoid has pulled in and the motor gear engaged with the fly wheel, this prevents leading edge wear on the starter motor gear. So you may not hear it turning but would have heard it clicking and if the starter solenoid was faulty, you may have heard the starter relay pulling in instead as a faint click somewhere.

[Pauljs]

I'll give that a go. Many thanks