Turn the key and nothing happens

[joelittel]

I’ve got a new issue I’m hoping you guys can help me track down.

When I put my key in the ignition everything seems to power up just fine. But when I turn the key nothing happens. No noise, no click... nothing.

I’ll check the obvious stuff, like fuses and connection points, any other suggestions?

[Jon124]

I’ve had this happen before and it was a faulty battery in my case. Have your battery load tested.

[focodave]

Joe,

I would look at 2 connectors: C31 and C17.
See the following diagram: https://www.globallistics.com/spiderswe ... mes/28.jpg

C31 is located close to the ignition switch. It is a white connector with multiple wires as shown in the diagram.
C17 is located in the engine compartment and it only has 1 wire coming out of both ends of the connector.
Pull both connectors apart and re-connect them a couple of times to re-seat the internal connections.

C31 is notorious for being problematic.

If that still does not fix your problem, go to the ignition switch and check all of the connections at the back of the switch, particularly the red wire.

I hope that helps,
Dave

[DieselSpider]

Before you go too crazy check the trigger wire on the starter and if its getting 12 volts when you turn the key to the start position then it may just be a bad connection on the starter or time for a new one.

I like to put a relay in for the starter since the starter solenoid can put a 10 amp load on the ignition switch as it performs the dual function of shifting the starter drive into the engaged position with the flywheel and closes the contacts to power up the starter motor while a 40 amp relay only draws a few Milli-amps of current and will greatly extend the life of the ignition switch.

[TX82FIAT]

This will sound odd. We all know the ignition switch is a failure point on these cars. You are describing one of the many signals for the ignition. If the battery is charged, a quick disconnect of the batter cable and reconnect would eliminate the problem. I know.... odd. kinda like rebooting a computer but it has worked for me in the past until I replaced or repaired the switch.

[joelittel]

Thanks guys, over the weekend I’ll run through this list and check everything you’ve mentioned.

My car has been stationary for about a month now which has me itching to solve this issue.

Oddly enough this issue popped up after my coolant T sensor failed. I had to do a roadside sensor swap (in the dark) to get the car home, which has me wondering if I accidentally got antifreeze in my alternator and damaged it without realizing.

[tima01864]

Check the grounds on the plenum, I have two piggy backed. I replaced the bolt with a silver plated bolt and the engine kicked right over as before it took a few revolutions to kick over. Something to look at as well as the fuses.

[focodave]

Joe,

My apologies -- I meant to say C6 -- NOT C17!
C6 is the lead from the ignition switch to the starter (red wire).
C6 is located in the engine compartment.

Good luck and please let us know what you find.

Dave

[joelittel]

Thanks for the additional insight. Other projects have been finding their way to the top of the To Do list so nothing has happened with the car...

With my luck it’ll be fixed just in time to watch the DMV salt our roads!

[DieselSpider]

Simplest test is to just jump the solenoid on the stater and if it does nothing even though the main lug has 12 volts from the battery then you need a new starter. If the solenoid engages and the starter spins then you need to look at the circuit between the ignition switch and the starter solenoid. This is pretty much the same for most cars, trucks, lawn/garden tractors and boat motors.

[joelittel]

Update:

Back in October (or there abouts) and after looking into most of the suggestions listed in previous posts I decided to reach out to Vicks for advice. I'm running the VAS Programmable Fuel injection and thought my problem might be a sensor or something along those lines.

Work and other projects got in the way and roughly 5 months later I was able to look into some of their suggestions. One of which was to load a known good tune.

I loaded a known good tune and tried starting the car. To my surprise it started on the first try. Crank, crank vroom! Somehow, I'm guessing, my previous tune had gotten corrupt. Before my issues began I had been using Tuner Studio Autotune almost every time I drove the car, and on one of those drives my coolant T sensor failed... so maybe that failure also corrupted my tune... who knows.


I still haven't driven the car any further than out of the garage to warm it up, and then back in again, but so far so good. I was worried that sitting idle for so long would make starting difficult, but it seemed to have no effect at all.

Currently very happy.

I'm still going to double check everything before I venture out too far from home, but so far so good.

[DieselSpider]

It figures its the modern Hi-Tech stuff that acted up. Makes me more fond of my old school stuff where no computers are involved and I am a computer programmer by trade.

Glad it was just something easily reloaded and didn't require sending the EPROM's out for a re-burn.