Bought an x type last week. Ran and drove fine otw home. Got it in the shop to do some work to it and noticed something taped to the ignition. Curiosity got the best of me and i started messing with it. Well i soon found out that they were the transponders in the key. Car no longer starts and says security failed on the dash. Tried multiple things to try and reset system to make it work. No luck.. fast forward had a lock smith come out to cut and reprogram new keys. Showed me on the scanner that they were in fact programmed to the car and the security lights off now. Still no crank no start. Found online that there is a reset button on the passenger side kick panel and it did seem to be tripped. Starter relay is clicking with the key in the start position but have no power going to the starter solenoid. Is there anything that im missing that will not allow this car to power up and start? The more i get into it i find another road block just to get the car started again.

 

Fixed issue. Disconnected battery to hard reset ecm. Hooked battery back up and found battery was junk. Put new battery in it and it started right up.

 

Good 'onya! Yes, that is a cheap fix to tie the transponder to the ignition lock, if you have only one transponder and several keys and don't want to pay the money to do it right (which was obviously the previous owner's philosophy...). Plus, a new battery helps... and to prolong the life of your new battery, a CTEK battery charger (min. 7A) is always a very good idea...)

 

Hi i Dont know If any body can help me - Drove home last night no problem - went to start the car this morning and got nothing at all - lights /dash/radio all ok turn the key and nothing doesn't crank at all - have a 2009, 2.2 D x type,

 

yovenim, when we see something like this, it is normally 1 of 2 things. What I would tell you to do first is grab a multimeter and measure from lead post to lead post (do not touch the metal clips on the battery terminals) and measure the battery voltage. It should read 12.6 VDC. If you are at 12.5 VDC or less, then your battery does not have a full charge and you need to get it up to a full charge before doing anything else.

With the battery at a full charge, does the car start now? If yes, immediately shut it off before it gets too warm (you are not going to hurt anything if you let it run, but this will save you time). With the car starting and having the engine cold, what I want you to do is start the car and then turn on the seat heaters, rear defroster, dash heater on high, and high(main) beams and let the car idle for about 5 minutes. Then turn all the electrical off and cup your hand OVER!!!!!! the battery terminals one at a time. You want to see if your battery terminal(s) is hotter than the surrounding metal of the car. If yes, then you have a bad battery lead going to the hot terminal. That can cause what you are seeing. Replace the lead and see what you have at that point.

If you have the battery up at 12.6 VDC and the car still will not start, then with the help of a second person, connect the multimeter again to the battery lead posts (not the metal clips) and have the person start the car as you watch the multimeter. If the multimeter remains at 12.6 VDC as you crank the car, you have a problem with the starter circuit (most likely a security issue with the keys, a solid red light on the center console will be your tell tale). If the multimeter drops to under 11.0 VDC, then you have a bad battery. If the multimeter drops to around say 11.5 to 12.0 VDC, then you have a bad starter.

Most of the time with a problem like you are seeing, it is either a bad battery or a bad battery cable that is the issue.

 

Just like thermo said check out the battery first. Had basically the same issue after dealing with the locksmith. I tried to jump/charge the battery and it didnt seem to be the issue because the vehicle and fuel pump was powering up. It also had the full 12+ volts. I disconnected the battery and left it on a slow charge outside the vehicle for a few hours. somebody also said something about touching the 2 leads together while the battery was out to remove any excess or static inside the system. What that does though is hard resets the ecu. When i put the battery back in everything was going off and on erratically but i then had power to my starter and was actually trying to crank. A buddy of mine had another battery to throw in it and it started right up afterwards. These also have inertia switches on the passenger side kick panel. Its almost like a breaker has a little hole in the kick panel and you can feel a little button up inside there. If youre able to press that button down youll hear an audible click noise and then youll know that has been set off somehow. I might be wrong but i do believe those can set off a security warning as well which may require a hard reset as i said earlier. But as long as theres no security warning on the dash or a red light by the shifter im going to go with a battery issue as well.