hey i parked my car in the driveway last night and it was running fine. went out this morning and the damn thing wont start.
when i turn the key on all the red light up, the smartlock light comes on for a second. then when i turn the key to start the motor... nothing... silence. the smart lock light goes out until i let go of the key. no noise from the starter no clicking no nothing.. when i turn the key to ignition on/engine off i hear the fuel pump smell fuel and hear a bunch of relays kick in. i still have the stereo and interior light working. i tried tapping on the dash. i tired leaving the ignition on for 30 mintues (45 in my case) to reset the smart lock but that didnt help. all my relays and fuses are fine the starter has kick if i put power to it.. any ideas on what it might be.. how can i totally reset everything, smartlock ecu, bem? i really need this car over xmas to get to sydney to see my wife and bring her home from hospital... any help is appreciated

could be a couple of things
first try starting the car (assuming its auto) in both park and neutral. if neutral allows it to start itl need a new inhibitor switch.
if its manual or the above didnt help check the starter relay. pull off your header tank, and its the relay closest to the guard. give it a wiggle, take it out and put it in a few times and you might have some luck (ED's as theyr getting older, corrosion starts to set in and you could have bad contact on the terminals, mine did this last week) from there try just bridging the relay plug to bypass the relay (if this works you need a new relay)
failing that you're going to have to get under the car. the starter will have 2 wires on it, a fat red one that should have 12V power all the time. and a little one that gets power when you turn the key to crank. if the little wire is getting power then the starter motor is faulty. (most likely the solenoid but it doesnt come seperate)


OR could be smartlock i hate smartlock.

i wou8ld have to say it isnt the smartlock as when i use a screwdriver and bridge the positive wire on the starter to the little wire the car will start and run.. and run well. i am guessing it is the starter relay but i wasnt sure which on it was.. i will go try that now.. thanks for the help will let you know how i go

ok i tested all the relays they all seem to be fine. yet the car still wont start off the key.. and i restarted it using a screwdriver across the starter and now it seems to have lost spark as well. how do i do a master reset on all the computers.. i think it may be a smartlock or bem drama. and where exactly is the bem on the ED? how do i get to it? when the ignitionis on the smartlock lock stays on for about 15 seconds then turns off no flashin at all

and the fuel pump has stopped priming and no clicks from the relays

check the fuse links coming of the positve terminal for continuity with a multimeter. Also clean up the earth terminal on the battery and check earths in engine bay.

just pulled the BEM or BCM whatever you guys wanna call it.. it smells burnt out.. there are a series if little square things under the pins where the connector go and they are looking a little worse for wear. they have like a white corrosion on them. i am going to try cleaning them up a bit and see what happens.

The smartlock module is red/orange and lives above the handbrake...

The BEM will be black or blue or something of that nature... It lives to the right of the cd player and lives vertically in the dash (smartlock lives flat or horizontally)...

Also to contradict the above...

The starter relay is not under the header tank, it is the side of the battery in the group of 4... One is low beam, one is high beam, one is horn, one is starter...

If you've lost the fuel pump when you turn the key to "on" and it doesn't prime... Its no module... Is the relay itself or it simply isn't getting any power... (check battery terminals and fusible links and fuses in car... Not by visual but with a test light/multimeter)... If they are OK... Try replacing the fuel pump relay... Its the green one under the header tank... They are a funny looking thing... Remember to press tab in to release... Don't lift it... Brown one is the EEC computer power...

Sounds like you have dodgey connections somewhere for all this to be going wrong...

Check the earth at the top of the dash? Under the cowling that's held down with two screws in the tweeter grills? The earth on the inner chassis rail? Earth on the block? No battery terminal corrosion?

Also fusible links are prone to corroding? Pulled them apart and cleaned them?

Cheers,
Tim

thank for that info. thats solves a few dramas for me. i will check the relays beside the battery as i fiddled around with them the other day when correcting the quad lights high/low issue.
so it could be that. i checked the ones under the header and that made no difference and now i know why lol. to to get to the bem i would have to remove the cd player and it is in the same cavity yeah?.

no you can't see it... though the screw that holds it in may be in there...

I think They may be a prick to get out with the dash in... it'll be accessed from the floor up above the handbrake... Will be worse if the car has a clutch

The BEM isn't not going to effect how the car starts though... Its just that... a body module... controls the wiper delay... controls lights of delay... controls dimming cluster lights on high series cars... Makes no difference to starting...

Smartlock is what will stop the car from starting...

Cheers,
Tim

a mate of mine has 2 ed falcons in his yard he is parting for his own project. one is a falcon and the other a fairmont ghia. would it be best to pull the smartlock from either or both of those and see what happens. and if so which would be better suited to the XR6 he also has an eb11 and a ea s-pac with the mpfi any of those be better?

you can try...

A smartlock module is a smartlock module... Doesn't vary at all...

You will find EA and EBI don't have smartlock... EBII & ED are identical regardless of the class of car...

EF & EL diff as the smartlock and BEM are one module...

Cheers,
Tim

This might sound silly, but I've had similar issues caused by the IGNITION SWITCH. I'd be checking that.

Gab

battery terminals clean ?>???


mark

ok thanks for all the info guys. here is where i stand.
i tried nuetral and park. no difference, fuel pump primes and relays click.. power to red wire on starter and the little wire when the key is turned has none. if i bridge the starter it starts the car and the car runs for 30 seconds then shuts down.
i have removed all relays under the bonnet and checked them with a multimeter, i have cleaned and tightened the battery terminals, checked all the fusible links and cleaned them, i have replaced all the fuses in the car with new ones, the relay for the smartlock has been replaced with new. i have removed and cleaned the smart lock, i have removed and cleaned the bem, i have left the ignition on for 30 mins then tryed to start the car and still nothing, i have put in a new battery still nothing, the central locking works off remote, the headlights, horn and indicators all work, the dash gauges and lights all work, the smart lock light flashes the same as it always did. once every 2 seconds, i have looked for the fault codes but there is none.. could this still be the smart lock? its basically the only thing i have not replaced.. the car just will not turn over at all off the key.