05 S197 not starting and dash stays lit
 

Hi all, first time posting and although I only registered just now I have looked around in the past and this seems like the best place to come for knowledge!

A few days ago after I parked in my garage (I’m really lucky I was home and not out anywhere!) I turned off the car and removed the key – the car had been running fine and stopped normally. When getting out I noticed the lights on the dash remained on so I put the key back in and attempted to move through the ignition positions and start the car.

When I turned the key one ‘step’ step the dash turned off, second step everything turned on (as normal and as now when the key is all the way off and out) but the car would not start or attempt to. I have a push button start I fitted a few years ago and using this to see at what position the car would attempt to turn over I found it would only try to start when in the completely off. The car would not start this way (I assumed because it shouldn’t and the fuel pump etc would not have power).

I thought the likely issue was the ignition switch which I replaced yesterday with no change to my issue.


I’m hoping someone will have experienced this or have an idea of what to try next and I hope what I have written above makes sense.

I appreciate any help anyone can provide.


Thanks,

Eugene (N.Ireland)

Can anyone give me any help on the above or point me in the right direction? (Ford dealer is simply a joke here with American cars, don't want to know)

Does it have an aftermarket alarm? I had a problem, not exactly like yours, where the starter would turn over when the clutch pedal was pushed, it didn't matter what position the key was in. This turned out to be due to the alarm being wired into the electrical system incorrectly, and what someone else working on the car did when it started happening. I had the dealership completely remove the aftermarket alarm and that fixed it, also I believe some years later I saw a Ford document about aftermarket alarms causing problems. Also, it could be problems with the SJB (Smart Junction Box) in the passenger foot well. Our cars tend to have leaks in that area and the box can get wet, and since it controls pretty much everything it can weird problems.

Hi all,

After an hour this morning I was able to track the problem down!

It was caused by the relay for the starter being faulty – photo attached.

To my shame and stupidity, I spent 30min after getting the ignition working as it should trying to figure out why the car would not start before I realised I needed to fit the ignition switch and key cylinder back together to satisfy the anti-theft system!



I hope this may help someone else at some point

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/themust...b2b800091c.gif

Wow, good catch @Spud5437! Will be sure to log that info away for future reference.