1997 Mark VIII: wierd starting problem

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Shaun 97VIII

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Hey guys,
I have a 1997 Mark VIII that i am having a little problem with lately:

I'll get into the car, turn the key, and it wont crank. the lights come on, seat moves, radio works, everything works so i know its not the battery. when i turn the key and hold it in the crank position the ANTI THEFT light flashes very rapidly. would that have anything to do with it? the car first started doing this about a month ago. after a while the car will eventually start, but i have to crank the key back and forth several times before the car will start. once the starter starts cranking the car will start in like 2 cranks. once the car is running it runs great, no problems at all. it just wont turn over. it happens randomly, like 100% random. some days it will go all day with several stops and it will start everytime on the first try... other times it will have the problem everytime i stop the car.
the other morning i was out there trying to start it for 30 minutes and it just wouldnt start so i took my fiance's car to work. when i got home i tried it again and it started on the first try. like i said, the ANTI THEFT light blinks randomly when it wont start.
i rented a CODE READER with no results, test passed.
PLEASE HELP!!!
 
silenoid going out? I would normally say that, but with your anti theft light blinking, I don't know. Is it blinking WHILE your trying to crank it over.....or after you let off of the key?



Mike
 
it blinks while i have the key in the crank position, blinks rapidly.
where is the solenoid located on my car?
 
Shaun 97VIII said:
it blinks while i have the key in the crank position, blinks rapidly.
where is the solenoid located on my car?
Click to expand...


Attached to the starter motor it's self.


But since the light is blinking while cranking, i'm leaning torwards a problem with your anti-theft system. I don't have much experience with the gen2 systems, but I have the gen1 schematics and trouble shooting pages scanned into my webshots page. Click the links in my signature and take a look if you want.


Mike




Edit....just read through some of it, and noticed a senser I never noticed before......the ignition control lock sensor, I'm wondering if that could be it.
 
is there another solenoid near the battery? someone told me to use a test light to "test the solenoid near the battery" so i thought there may be a fender mounted solenoid or something?
and your Mark VIIIs are so bad ass, very nice. your 1994 MK8 is the first one i've seen with the 5sp swap! thats just great.
i have big plans for my mark VIII. this summer i planned on doing a full exhaust, and a LMS programmer.
speaking of which, i read that another member on here had a starting problem in his LS, and it ended up being the PATS system and he had to have it reprogrammed at the dealership. wierd....
 
just thought of something while looking at your schematics:

what if i remove the ANTI THEFT fuse? or would that just disable the whole system and cause the car not to start period? lol
 
Shaun 97VIII said:
is there another solenoid near the battery? someone told me to use a test light to "test the solenoid near the battery" so i thought there may be a fender mounted solenoid or something?
and your Mark VIIIs are so bad ass, very nice. your 1994 MK8 is the first one i've seen with the 5sp swap! thats just great.
i have big plans for my mark VIII. this summer i planned on doing a full exhaust, and a LMS programmer.
speaking of which, i read that another member on here had a starting problem in his LS, and it ended up being the PATS system and he had to have it reprogrammed at the dealership. wierd....
Click to expand...



Thank you for the compliments but those pictures are really getting dated now. Iv'e done SO much stuff to the 94 since those pics it's not funny, and the 95 is in pieces for a complete re-paint.

I'm gonna be posting pics of the new color tomorrow night. Stay tuned.

BTW, I hope someone else can help you with the start problem, cause I'm out of ideas. also...there is only 1 silenoid. :)

Mike
 
thats what i thought! just the starter solenoid.
i appreciate the help, and the diagrams are helpful too. i just went down to the car and it fired right up. i shut it off and it fired right up again. i did it 4 times with no problems. when i came in i just locked the doors manually without arming the ANTI THEFT and i'll see what happens tomorrow morning when i leave for work, lol.
 
just a weird idea here,did you try it with your other key?
dont forget the keys are coded to the antitheft module,maybe your chip in the one key is kaka.

or like you said before the dealer might need to reprogram,

whenever a light warns you by blinking ,it is "usually" telling you where to look for the problem.


mike
 
as a matter of :q:q:q:qin fact, now that you mention it!
i remember i switched the keys with my fiance because i had a grey key and she had a black one, and i took the black one because it was cleaner lol, and shortly after that is when the problem started happening! :q:q:q:qin bricks man, i never thought about that. i will try it when she gets home and find out!
thanks for the tip. if this works i owe you a beer, hehe :yourock:
 
lol. maybe i should just replace the ignition switch. damn i really dont want to throw money/parts at it without results. and i DO NOT want to pay a $90 diagnostics fee, that $90 can buy me a weeks worth of booze
 
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