GTi 6 Won’t Start

[Chris HDI]

First off I don’t really know what section to put this in so just putting it here.
Just been out to my car to go to work and when I got in before I’d even put the keys in the ignition the dash board was lit up as if the keys were in. When I put them in and tried to start it there was no sound of the fuel pump priming and the car just turned over but didn’t fire. Dunno if it’s just not priming because the car thinks it’s still on? Took the keys out and the dash stayed lit. Had a quick check of fuses and relays but couldn’t see nothing at fault. Now at work and cars stuck at home. Any ideas of what to look at? Anyone had this issue themselves? Thanks

[C2K]

I suspect main loom plug for the fans, near passenger fog light. That can cause all sorts of issues.

.net is down but there’s a thread with your issue on there if you google.

[Chris HDI]

I suspect main loom plug for the fans, near passenger fog light. That can cause all sorts of issues.

.net is down but there’s a thread with your issue on there if you google.

The fan loom would really cause a none start?

[Niall]

I suspect main loom plug for the fans, near passenger fog light. That can cause all sorts of issues.

.net is down but there’s a thread with your issue on there if you google.

The fan loom would really cause a none start?

Yes. It causes major earthing issues and has been known to cause fires. If you undo the round multi pin plug at the passenger side bottom of the fan assembly I bet you there will be weather in there and corroded pins. Give it all a really good clean and seal up again well

[Chris HDI]

I suspect main loom plug for the fans, near passenger fog light. That can cause all sorts of issues.

.net is down but there’s a thread with your issue on there if you google.

The fan loom would really cause a none start?

Yes. It causes major earthing issues and has been known to cause fires. If you undo the round multi pin plug at the passenger side bottom of the fan assembly I bet you there will be weather in there and corroded pins. Give it all a really good clean and seal up again well

Will give it a go tomorrow when I’m home, thanks for the advice. Would pulling the fan fuse in the engine bay be a temp fix?

[Chris HDI]

Pulling the fuse out hasn’t fixed it. So dunno if it will be that connector at fault. Took some pictures of what happens that may help.
   
This is what it looks like with no key in the ignition. Fuel pump primes as soon as battery is connected.
   
This is what it looks like with the key in the ignition. Now the radio and clock/temp turns on as normal.
   
Then when I try to start it, it will turn over and then when I stop trying it will do a gauge sweep.

[cully]

gauge sweep is a sign of low voltage
as others have said check the low chassis plugs and the loom that runs in the front crossmember this can get damaged and short out

[C2K]

Stuff like this is generally an earth, or permanent short to earth. I've seen things cause one light, no lights, no cranking but haven't seen much that would explain your symptoms.

Start methodically. Test, don't look at, all the fuses. Check the fan loom and bay earths, primarily the Gearbox one. I remember getting lots of lights then couldn't start the hdi, but that wouldn't even crank with broken main earth. You're getting some sort of short circuit or back feed, so the issue is electrical, but needs to be something major to prevent starting. I'd suspect a dicky barrel or loom if you weren't getting it to crank on p3 ignition. 

That fan loom can cause fires, as Niall says. Regardless of whether it's causing your issues it's well worth a visit. Keep. An open mind, you could potentially have two problems, one causing the lights and another causing non start.

Cully is your man for electrical questions and you've got his attention.

[Chris HDI]

Stuff like this is generally an earth, or permanent short to earth. I've seen things cause one light, no lights, no cranking but haven't seen much that would explain your symptoms.

Start methodically. Test, don't look at, all the fuses. Check the fan loom and bay earths, primarily the Gearbox one. I remember getting lots of lights then couldn't start the hdi, but that wouldn't even crank with broken main earth. You're getting some sort of short circuit or back feed, so the issue is electrical, but needs to be something major to prevent starting. I'd suspect a dicky barrel or loom if you weren't getting it to crank on p3 ignition. 

That fan loom can cause fires, as Niall says. Regardless of whether it's causing your issues it's well worth a visit. Keep. An open mind, you could potentially have two problems, one causing the lights and another causing non start.

Cully is your man for electrical questions and you've got his attention.

It’s just really puzzling as I’d literally been driving the car 2 hours previous, parked it up and came back to a nackered car basically lol

---

gauge sweep is a sign of low voltage
as others have said check the low chassis plugs and the loom that runs in the front crossmember this can get damaged and short out

Didn’t know gauge sweep was a sign of low voltage. Cheers!

[C2K]

Did you fix this?

[Chris HDI]

Did you fix this?

Sorry I should have put a post into this directly. I did mention it in an update I put into my thread in the newbie section. After a bit of digging around properly one weekend I found 2 suspect wires going from the dash to the fuse box. A bit of a corroded earth point on the passenger side chassis leg, didn’t seem too bad but cleaned it up anyways but what I believe to be the main problem was not the connector that people suggested in this thread but the part of the loom itself leading to that plug. After a fair bit of replacing she fired first turn of the key. I didn’t try starting it after each of the 3 problem areas as the battery was dead and was waiting on my friend returning my booster pack so couldn’t tell you which one of the 3 fixed it directly.

Again thanks for all who gave advice, was very helpful. Hopefully this may help someone else in the future.