No Start S Type

Hey There -

You want ghosts of Sir Lucas well here ya' go.

2000 S Type 3.0 Automatic Transmission

I borrow my mother's S Type a few days ago because my Mazda was giving me trouble. I drove the car about 8 miles when it throws a flashing CEL and start idleing roughly and accelerating poorly. This was fairly obviously a bad coil so I took it straight to my mechanic who downloaded the misfire code and diagnosed a bad coil. He replaced all three coils under the intake manifold and all was well.

I drove the car about 50 miles after that through the rain, but not horrifying rain and no high water. I go to get into the car the next morning, and I notice that the SRS Airbag light is glowing ever so slightly without the key in the ignition. I thought this odd, but not fatal. I put the key in and try to start the car, and the starter motor won't engage. I turn the key off and try again and same result. Turn the key off and put it into the second position without attempting to turn it and when the dash lights cycle off, the airbag light is left on as is the red warning lamp. The car again does not start. I removed the key and went under the hood looking for fuses and I hear a gentle electrical whine coming from under the hood somewhere. I can't find the fuses there (remember that this isn't my car), and I slam the hood. I get back into the car and the light glow from the airbag light is gone and the car starts and runs fine. I drive the car back to my mother's house, turn it off, and after turning the key off all of the dash warning lights flash three times with the key totally off.

Any opinions appreciated because I am pretty much totally flummoxed. Thanks in Advance -H

Reply to
Hazey
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So the lights flashed three times - Hal's trying to say something - What about the no start??????

(Glad I don't own one of these.)

Reply to
T.G. Lambach

Well, Tom the no start part is the bit where I turn the key and the starter motor won't engage leaving me with an SRS (airbag) light and a red warning lamp, and as for not owning one of these, they still work better than contemporary Mercedeses IMHO, but on to other things.

Having noodled on this for a bit, I am coming up with two possibilities, which I can't check since it hasn't done it again. The first being the forward sensor for the airbag system, but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense since I can't see how it would prevent the car from starting (not to mention that I have no idea how it would affect dash lights.) The other would be a bad starter motor. The starter motor in most cars is put into the electrical system directly from the battery, and modern starters have electronics controlling them. I'm wondering what would happen if there were a short in the starter itself. Could it feed back through the entire electrical system? Oh questions questions.

More and more I think about just bicycling everywhere. It is so much easier than trying to drive. Even if I am going to Chicago.

Any thoughts still appreciated and thanks for the response. - H

Reply to
Hazey

If it were my car, I'd 1. check that I had the radio code (for resetting) and 2. disconnect the battery for say 20 minutes to allow all the electronics to reset to their defaults. Reconnect the battery, recode the radio and see if there's any improvement in the electronics.

As to the no start. It could be that 1. the neutral safety switch is slightly mis adjusted - try the shifter in N or return it to P - or that the starter is bad - perhaps from water infiltration.

I'm still glad not to own one of these - it's just too complicated - regardless of brand.

Reply to
T.G. Lambach

Sensible advice, and when it acts up again, I'll try it. I am still leaning to a short in the starter motor itself. If it were the neutral safety switch, then I would be looking at two faults coming up at the same time, which is certainly possible, but a little less likely than a single fault causing all the same symptoms. The symptoms and the no start are acting together. I really have to believe that they are part and parcel of the same issue.

I do really appreciate the advice though, and I will definitely try it the next time the car acts up. Cheers - H

Reply to
Hazey

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