So yesterday car just wouldn't turn over, had been a bit sluggish to start as the weather got colder but nothing at all.

So charged the battery but still this morning same thing, no chance. I'm getting the humm from the fuel pump but I don't even get the clicking with it trying to turn over, just a high pitch whine?

Had a faulty lead a few months ago which was replaced. Starter motor was upgraded a couple of years back.

Car is a 07 series 1 40th anniversary edition.

Had a read but haven't managed to find a thread with the exact same issues.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

If it's not clicking and not turning at all then your starter isn't getting power. Check all fuses, the wiring and the battery terminals

Other option is your immobilizer has tripped, you would see the red key light on the dash flashing rapidly.

 

Hey mate there was a flashing red key symbol on the dash.

What do I do for the immobiliser being tripped? Will do a search after work too.

Thanks for the help Loki!

 

Rapidly flashing or flashing every few seconds?
Do you have another key you can try? Normally this requires a trip to the dealer to reprogram the keys to the antitheft system.

 

Oh no the car only came with 1 key... That's a real pita.

So I have to get it towed to a dealship to have the key reprogrammed?

Or just take the key to a dealership?

What prompts the key to do this?

When the key is turned the red symbol flashes rapidly.

 

You'll need to take the whole car to the dealer and maybe get a spare set of keys while you're at it. You can get blanks on ebay cheaply.

This can happen after a battery disconnect, but I'm not sure what exactly causes the car to forget its key. It's not a normal occurrence.

 

Do you have an OBD device plugged in while starting the car, by chance? Code reader, gauge, that sort of thing? They can cause this as well.

 

Nah nothing like that, I'm going to try a code reader this morning to see if anything shows up.

Car is pretty much factory, no real mods and only like 70k on it. It's so weird because it was driving fine the day before now nothing.

 

https://streamable.com/m39kfz

That's a video of what happens when I try start it, I checked all the fuses and charged the battery again, no red key symbol but it still won't start.

It's like it's not even trying to turn over? I keep thinking starter motor but it's less than 2 years old with maybe 10-15000 km on it.

Can the upgraded starter really fail that quickly?

 

Well the good news is it's trying to start, but the starter relay isn't closing. What is the battery voltage at rest and and while trying to start it? A dead battery will show good voltage at rest, but it'll drop into single digits under load and not be able to turn the starter.
Started relay might have failed. This thread sounds similar and has pictures of what to check https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...roblem-271057/

 

Checked all fuses and relays and checked all the ignition connections and chucked in a new battery and its finally started up!

Thanks for all of your help Loki! Really appreciate it mate!