1996 MkII 960 non start after parked up a few months

[Wongsky]

I don't always use my 960 as much as I should, and having learned my lesson in terms of battery drain, I've learned to remove the battery if I'm leaving it for a while, and keeping the battery charged.

Normally it fires up straight away, I've never had any starting issues, well except for an issue where the alarm module went bad and was permanently stuck in the whole - not supplying current to the starter.

I resolved that by buying and using the official bypass relay - so now no alarm, no response to the remote fobs, just central locking from the key.

I put the battery back in the other day, and tried starting. It will turn and turn, but not fire - I'm not hearing the fuel pump priming, nor do I see any wetness or a little bit of unburnt fuel at the exhaust from trying to start it, but not firing.

So I'm guessing it's not fueling. I've checked all the relevant fuses by the door side of the drivers dash, and the two fuse boxes under the bonnet. I've also swapped around the odd relay to try and test whether it's the fuel pump relay - which seems to be in the drivers side, end of days fuse box - but I keep reading about the fuel pump relay being with the alarm relay by the side of the central console, behind the stereo?

The other thing I've been reading about is immobiliser antenna ring (which I once replaced on an S70 I used to own some years back) - but I can't see any parts returned when I search online?

Does anyone know of the details and part number for the immobiliser antenna ring for the MkII 960?

[GingerMagic]

I'm no expert, sorry - but do you have more than 1 key for your car?
If so, have you tried a different key - not all keys have a transponder chip in...

[Forrest]

There should be various schrader valves in the fuel system including the fuel rail where you can attach a pressure gauge. This is the most direct way to tell if the fuel pump is working as it should.

Modern petrol doesn’t have an especially long shelf life and can go bad, especially if it is the ordinary high-ethanol content variety. The ethanol attracts water.

Does the rev counter show any signs of life when you turnover the engine on the starter? If not, the RPM sensor may have gone bad.

If you’ve been trying to start it, you might have got the issue of the hydraulic lifters not allowing the valves to close thus affecting compression. If you’ve eliminated less esoteric causes of your no-start issue then you can overcome this by cranking a lot more with your foot on the accelerator. The car will start one cylinder at a time and run very rough for a bit until it sorts itself out.

[Wongsky]

Originally Posted by GingerMagic

I'm no expert, sorry - but do you have more than 1 key for your car?
If so, have you tried a different key - not all keys have a transponder chip in...

Yes, I have two keys - I tried them both, there was no difference in behaviour or results between them.

[Wongsky]

Originally Posted by Forrest

There should be various schrader valves in the fuel system including the fuel rail where you can attach a pressure gauge. This is the most direct way to tell if the fuel pump is working as it should.

Modern petrol doesn’t have an especially long shelf life and can go bad, especially if it is the ordinary high-ethanol content variety. The ethanol attracts water.

Does the rev counter show any signs of life when you turnover the engine on the starter? If not, the RPM sensor may have gone bad.

If you’ve been trying to start it, you might have got the issue of the hydraulic lifters not allowing the valves to close thus affecting compression. If you’ve eliminated less esoteric causes of your no-start issue then you can overcome this by cranking a lot more with your foot on the accelerator. The car will start one cylinder at a time and run very rough for a bit until it sorts itself out.

There wasn't much fuel in it, - it was pretty low, so my first thoughts were about fuel - I went to get some more / fresh, and put 2 petrol cans worth of V Power petrol in it (which didn't move the petrol gauge that much!)

After searching and reading other threads, I picked up on the rev counter thing, I didn't think to notice it when I was trying, I will try again over the next day or two to check on that.

I did try cranking for quite a while, and using the throttle, which just succeeded in running down the battery (should be in good health, as it's been bought in the last year, and I didn't leave it in to go flat. I've been charging it in between trying, so I should be at least starting with a good level of charge.

One thing I did notice, which I haven't in the past - when I turn on the ignition, the temp gauge rises to the middle, pauses, then goes all the way to the right, before returning all the way to the left. I've never noticed it doing that before from turning on the ignition - but maybe that's just me not noticing.

[Wongsky]

Just as further info, I tried it today - no signs of life from the rev counter when trying to start.

It is turning over at a normal speed, and pretty sure it's not a battery problem as I bring the battery in to charge whilst it's stood not doing anything.

Not hearing the fuel pump prime either, and still no signs of a little unburnt fuel at the exhaust from trying to start it.

The rpm sensor - anyone know the part number and / or where I can get one - and where are they in terms of the engine, and how easy to replace?

[Forrest]

I think the part number for the crank pulse sensor for the 960 Mk2 is 3547699. It will fit into a mounting bracket on top of the bell housing. It is easy enough in theory to replace but access is likely to be tricky.

I've only ever replaced these (different part number, similar concept) on 4-cylinder 940s and the access is bad enough on those.

Have you checked for voltage at the electrical connector for the fuel tank? Have you checked the fuel pressure at the rail? It's always better to diagnose before throwing parts at the problem.