Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

Had the battery disconnected for about a month. Reconnected it and pressed the key fob in random pattern and after five or six presses, the door locks worked.

Pressed the open door button makes the blinking red dash light go out. Insert key and turn but only half the dash lights illuminate. These are the handbrake, airbag and such.

The ignition, EML, diesel pre-heat do not illuminate.

Turn the key to final position (starter) and there is nothing. No clicks or whirls, nothing.

The lights in the centre console (radio and clock) do dim. The dash lights that are lit do not dim.

A gentleman friend has listened in and assures me he can hear the relays under the bonnet activating , but I can't hear a fuel pump prime as I turn the key to the pre-starter position. I have a petrol 45 too so not sure if I'm confusing myself and maybe there is no fuel pump priming noise on a diesel.

As I can't start the car I can't get it to the garage hence me asking on here. Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

I have a complete 2004 2.0 L Series car as a spare so if swapping immobiliser or ECUs or anything is a way forward, let me know and I'll give it a go.

Also, if you're willing to give me a phone call or two on Saturday morning, I would readily remunerate you with beer, cash, spare parts, Rover 25 seats, set of Cosmos Alloys, 400 mats, head gasket needy Rover 200 8v or anything I might have that takes your fancy!!!!!

First check.

Disconnect the battery and check the "off-load" voltage which should read in excess of 12 volts.

Re-connect the battery and measure the voltage across the terminals whilst someone acticvates the starter. If the battery voltage drops below about 9.5 volts, its cream-crackered.

If you don't have a voltmeter, a lesser quick-check would be to switch on the headlights, and note if they noticably dim wheny you activate the starter.

Oh, I do have a Voltmeter..... whether I can use it accurately or correctly is another matter!

I will give that a go though.... thanks

I am not as familiar with the electrical layout of the HH/R as I am with the R8 and R3, but your description makes me wonder if one of the earth wires between the battery and body is adrift.

The L-series in the R3 does not have an electric fuel pump: the belt-driven injector pump sucks up its own fuel, a valve stops it draining back when the engine is switched off and there is a hand priming bulb in the engine bay to deal with situations where the pipework has been disconnected. I would expect the HH/R installation to be the same.

Yes, it does have the belt driven pump which is timed with the belt.

I've checked the connecters for a bad earth, but will look again on Sat.

Thanks

This might sound obvious but have you charged the battery? Have you tried starting it with a jump pack or jump leads? If the red immobiliser light is going out, it is unlikely to be an issue with the immobiliser.

I have tried a different, good battery with same result.

Will try again Saturday when back with car

Check the earth spade connector to the starter motor. This is a common issue for becoming loose/corroded/having a poor contact, giving the exact symptoms you describe.

"itcapainslow" has a point (not in "has a pint" down the pub).

I had a similar problem with corrosion of the Lucar connector which energises the solenoid upon operation of the starter. However, that does not explain your initial disclosure that some of the warning lights are inoperative. Whilst replying, just a note of caution.

If you couple a slave battery with jump leads to boost the electrical supply to the car, you really should switch off the engine before disconnecting it, otherwise the electronics can get all spiteful and give you hastle.

Similarly, you should never crank the engine with the plug leads disconnected (but not in your case as you have an engine invented by Herr Rudolph) as to put it in simple senile O.A.P's terminology like me, the spark "has nowhere to go", and it can signal bye-bye to your ignition capability.

Hope this helps.

Now Matron wants me to eat my rusks.

Plenty to go at there and I thank you all.

I'll be having a look tomorrow morning and will put all this in the best order to test/check/try.

I'll be back!