Hi,
tonight I put the key in, turned the key and nothing happened, ignition ticking over but nothing more than that. Yesterday the same thing happened but I thought it maybe that the petrol was quite low although not on the red. So off I wandered to the nearest petrol station to get a can of petrol, chucked it in the car and attempted to start up again and it sprung into life as it usually does. However since then its done it twice again and this evening it came to a head because it wouldnt start at all and I called the AA blokey out.

Like most AA blokes he couldnt quite figure it out to begin with but after a few minutes he decided it was my other Ford Transit Immobiliser key on the same keyring effecting the Fiat key. Is this possible!!? If I keep the Transit key away from the Fiat key while starting it does sometimes make a difference but not every time by any means. Both keys have been on the same ring for months now and this has only happened the last two days. Personally I dont think this has anything to do with it at all. What the hell is going on!!?

Its a Sporting by the way and its a blue key I'm having probs with, thats if its the key thats causing the probs.

Thanks

Is the fuel pump priming each time? My ignition is iffy sometimes where I turn the key and the fuel pump doesn't go but the car tries to start, thought the fuel pump was dodgy but I tracked it down to the pressure I was putting on the key when starting.

Probably won't be that but have a gander anyway, only take a couple of mins.

Liam

Cheers bloomfieldliam. That fuel pump thing does sound logical. How would I know if the fuel pump was priming or dodgy?

turn ignition on and you should hear the pump for few seconds,

cheers dave. now why wouldnt the aa bloke have known that, or can it only be heard in chinks?

nah, you can hear the fuel pump in most cars

AA man gets paid wether he fixes it or not

Hi,
Turn the ignition on(without the radio) and listen for a "bzzz" noise for about 1 or 2 seconds, that would be the pump priming..

Thanks
Paul T

Cooter said:

cheers dave. now why wouldnt the aa bloke have known that, or can it only be heard in chinks?

Click to expand...

The AA dude is much brighter than me when it comes to fault diagnosis but his other key theory was BS!

My ignition seems looser than other cars, there must be a switch or contact point in there somewhere for the fuel pump and the way I had the key meant it wasn't catching.

Liam

dave said:

AA man gets paid wether he fixes it or not

Click to expand...

yea but I thought he should have diagnosed the problem rather than just guessing which he even admitted! I suppose becos it was running by the time he left thats why he didnt give a **** what caused the probelm.

paul_treg said:

Hi,
Turn the ignition on(without the radio) and listen for a "bzzz" noise for about 1 or 2 seconds, that would be the pump priming..

Thanks
Paul T

Click to expand...

Thanks Paul, will give it a go in the morning and will report back.

and if it is priming?

then it aint the imobliser, it'd be the crank sensor

ok, tried listening for the pump priming and couldnt hear anything.


and it hasnt failed to start this morning after about 20 starts and the ford key is still on the keyring.

The fuel pump must be doing something if it's starting.

Got to be really quiet to hear it though, don't try it on a busy road etc, some cars you can feel the vibrations in the rear seat!

Liam

well I dont know then, guess my car isnt trustworthy anymore and it'll be breaking down whenever it feels like it! I hear ebay calling!!

Would a fiat diagnostic check thingy be able to spot anything?

It could be the main fuel relay had built up some carbon deposits on the contacts. The switching on on off a few times has cleared the carbon off. This happens on the PAS relay on my MR2 (well known fault).

I'd see how it goes. If it is this then switching on and of a few times usually cures it.

Dam and hell! It happened again saturday night. Tried all spare keys, red as well but no luck. Started first time sunday morning. Could it be the immobiliser, is there some sort of timer thing on it.

Hi,
Have you looked at the engine/crank position sensor, had a similar problem with a Fiesta where the engine would turn over but just wouldn't fire, turned out to be a bad connection/earth on the engine/ crank position sensor.
May not be, but its worth giving it a clean and check, oh and a dose of magic spray(wd40).

Hope this helps

Paul T

cheers again Paul, to many things for a non mechanicy bloke to think about though. I'm going to book it in next week at the local mechanics and mention some of these possibilities. I really dont want to get rid of my little Chinky.