Had the car about a week.
Went to hop into it to come home from work, and nothing. Wouldn't crank, light on dash with a picture of a padlock through a door frame.
Got a lift home and did some googling, reading here. Low battery seemed to be a culprit, along with poor earths. So I returned to work armed with a toolkit, meter, jump leads and a mate with a van.
Sure enough, battery was low - 11.5V. Stuck the jump leads on with the van running. Still wouldn't start. Disconnected the battery for a while, reconnected. Still wouldn't start. Took the battery out and charged it, put it back in. Jumped negative to some body metal, and some engine metal, in case of poor earth. Didn't help.
Having disconnected the battery a few times, started to get warning on the dash about the power steering module needing checking. But I didn't think that immobilised the car?
Sounds pretty bad so far, right?
OK, so eventually I find that if I leave the key in the run position, and disconnect the battery for ten seconds, and reconnect - it will let me turn the ignition off and on again quickly and crank the engine to start.
At this point every dash light is complaining, and the display is reeling out list of things that won't work, ABS, hill start, power steering, all disabled. But, engine is running, so I drive it home.
At home, I take the key out of the ignition, and the engine is still running. This car is very confused. I am doubting it will ever be usable again.
I go to stall it by selecting reverse, but as soon as I move the gearstick, the engine stops. Odd.
Open the bonnet, I can hear some actuator whirring on the engine. Not good, considering it is supposed to be stopped. Disconnecting and reconnecting the battery doesn't stop it. My DC clamp meter showed a 3A draw - presumably why the battery went flat.
...and there I will leave this post, to be continued later. I did fix it... eventually. Anyone care to guess?
Went to hop into it to come home from work, and nothing. Wouldn't crank, light on dash with a picture of a padlock through a door frame.
Got a lift home and did some googling, reading here. Low battery seemed to be a culprit, along with poor earths. So I returned to work armed with a toolkit, meter, jump leads and a mate with a van.
Sure enough, battery was low - 11.5V. Stuck the jump leads on with the van running. Still wouldn't start. Disconnected the battery for a while, reconnected. Still wouldn't start. Took the battery out and charged it, put it back in. Jumped negative to some body metal, and some engine metal, in case of poor earth. Didn't help.
Having disconnected the battery a few times, started to get warning on the dash about the power steering module needing checking. But I didn't think that immobilised the car?
Sounds pretty bad so far, right?
OK, so eventually I find that if I leave the key in the run position, and disconnect the battery for ten seconds, and reconnect - it will let me turn the ignition off and on again quickly and crank the engine to start.
At this point every dash light is complaining, and the display is reeling out list of things that won't work, ABS, hill start, power steering, all disabled. But, engine is running, so I drive it home.
At home, I take the key out of the ignition, and the engine is still running. This car is very confused. I am doubting it will ever be usable again.
I go to stall it by selecting reverse, but as soon as I move the gearstick, the engine stops. Odd.
Open the bonnet, I can hear some actuator whirring on the engine. Not good, considering it is supposed to be stopped. Disconnecting and reconnecting the battery doesn't stop it. My DC clamp meter showed a 3A draw - presumably why the battery went flat.
...and there I will leave this post, to be continued later. I did fix it... eventually. Anyone care to guess?
