Laguna starting problem - weird

I have an intermittent starting problem with a Laguna II. Basically I press the start button and there is no response from the starter motor at all - no noise, no lights dim, nothing. I have had the RAC out for this twice and they have fiddled around near the starter motor and it then starts. However, my local garage had the car up on the ramp and there were no obvious problems with the starter - no loose connections. The relays and fuses have been checked and appear OK. This problem can occur when the engine is warm - ie I drove it for about an hour and it wouldn't start again. It can also occur when the engine is cold - it wouldn't start one morning but later in the day it did, without me doing anything else to it. I have a vague idea that this might be an immobiliser problem but there do not appear to be any fault codes coming up on the scanner. Any ideas?

Reply to
leo
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Check the engine fuse box under the bonnet behind the headlamp. You may need to pull it apart to properly check it. There is no effective cover on its underside and water corrdoes the connections underneath. Fairly well known..

Tim.

Reply to
Tim..

In message , Tim.. writes

Cheers, will try that

Reply to
leo

In message , Tim.. writes

Hi Tim - I had the engine fuse box out. As far as I can see all the wires leading into it terminate directly into the fuse connections, and all of the fuses / relays have been taken out, WD40'd and put back in. I can't see any obvious signs of corrosion, but haven't actually dismantled the fuse box completely to check. Is it worth attempting to dismantle the fuse box completely, or is there some other likely cause?

Reply to
leo

The wires indeed terminate directly on the fuse/relay receptacles, and this is often where the corrosion is at. If you can see these points fairly well and they look secure and clean (give them a slight tug to be sure) then I would be happy that this is not the problem- if there is corrosion there- its pretty obvious.

After that I would be tempted to hook up a temporary bulb to the starter solonoid terminal and earth and secured so that you can quickly check for power when the start button is pressed next time it refuses to start.

You dont mention anything like relays clicking / not clicking abnormally when trying to start..?

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..

In message , Tim.. writes

The last time that this failed and I had a listen under the bonnet, there was a fairly high-pitched whining sound and a chittering noise which could be a relay attempting to operate

Reply to
leo

Could well be a poor earth then, check all the ones you can find, remove, check / clean and re-make.

Earths these days are often fitted to painted surfaces relying on the bolt thread to actually make the earth, which they sometimes dont.

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..

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