The Problem all started 2 days ago. I went to drive my wife to work and to my surprise when I put the key in the ignition and turned it to start all I got was a complete power failure for about 2 seconds and a *click*. I pulled the key out of the ignition and sat for awhile. I pondered for a second to take some guessing on exatly what was wrong with my baby...

I got back in the car after about 5 minutes and tried to start it again, this time i turned it to acc. instead of starting right away. When I turned it to Accessory I hear a clicking noise in about 1/2 second intervals coming from the kick box and the fuse box underneath the hood. Im not to mechanically inclined but from what it looked like there were 2 "fuses" that were about an inch width and inch length. I put my finger on them and to my surprise you could feel the *click*

I left my poor baby in the Garage all night speculating if I should call up roadside assistance or get some information first. So I then stayed up all night searching these forums for an answer. Almost everyone that had the same problem, Speedometer needles flickering, radio going on and off, driver side window going down in intervals, light fadeing and brightening and of course no starting, said that they replaced the battery and the car was fine.

Well Since my car is a MC'05 and only has 29567 on the odometer, besides freaking me out from the car having this problem at such low mileage and so young into its life, I contacted the dealership via e-mail and they havnt responded but I do have a Tow truck coming to pick her up in about an hour so I can just get them to fix the problem.

I basically wanted to know if anyone else had the same problem and if it was battery or starter because when i went to start it this morning, being fully charged when I checked it, all accessories went on but I just get a *click* from underneth the bonnet. Sounds exactly like when my starter went out on my '95 ram. Well ill update when I get it back from the Dealer.

 

I have a very similar problem, but it hasn't stranded me... I turned the key on and got NOTHING from the dash... no radio, no idiot lights, nothing... although the interior lights, locks and windows worked.

I tried to turn the key multiple times and it didn't work.

I think popped the hood and remove and replaced the engine relay and it started and ran perfectly.

Now, to make it more confusing. I then removed the engine relay and tried to start, I got all of the dash lights and radio, etc, but the car wouldn't crank.

So, at this point, I'm not really sure what the problem is...

It hasn't happened to me in a long while (couple of weeks).

I have a 2003 MCS with 9500 miles...

 

I've also heard about the engine relay and didnt really want to bother with it. I figure since im still covered under warranty ill just let the dealership replace anything they need to. Im not very happy so they'll get a nice little speech from me

 

I had this problem in my 30 year old 914 and it ended up being the solenoid on the starter. Not enough juice to turn the crank. It started out as an intermittent problem where sometimes it would not start, walk away and come back and then it would start. Not reproducable. Finally it just would not start and then came the solution of a new solenoid.

BTW I had dash lights and all, it was just the engine that would not crank to start.

 

Is it possible that you left something on or that the fans shorted and didn't go off, running the battery all the way down? Did you try to jump it? It could also be a bad battery but a dead battery for some other reason is more likely.

Keep us posted.

Rich

 

At first I tried jumping it with my wife's F-150.

Let it charge for a little bit and then tried to fire it up..nothing.

i then hooked a trickle charger up to it and even at 2amps it was getting a full charge. The lights were no dimmer and all accesories worked fine, even the radio.

The tow truck picked it up about 2 hours ago and they thought I was crazy so they tried to jump it with theres....

That ended up being the last laugh until they ended up putting it on the flatbed and hauling it away to the dealership.

Im guessing computer error with one of the sensors or as stescz said maybe even the engine relay. At the worst its the starter and its covered under warranty so I should be fine.

I know it will suck when my warranty ends and I have to end up doing it myself but at least im educated this time.

 

This is not the solenoid or the battery.... The whole dash is DEAD.... nothing... not a light, not a click, not a sound... it's like you didn't turn the key. Then a second later, it's starts perfect. My current theory is that it's the ignition switch. The next time it happens, I'm going to try some things with the key/switch..

 

It has to be some kind of computer failure...mayeb there is a sensor that is acting up like the fuel vapor or flat tire sensor. Do you even have the warranty anymore?

If you have the warranty drive it to the dealership and have them run a diagnostic on it and maybe they can diagnose the problem that way. Im just sitting here patiently waiting to find out what exactly went wrong with mine.

Hopefully my post tomorrow will help you out a little bit when I can find out what is going on

 

It's way out of warranty and the nearest dealer is a 90 mile drive... so I'm going to do some more checknig myself. I have an OBDII reader, so next time it happens, I should see if any codes are set (although the check engine light is not being set).

 

what happen then ???

 

Yes. What happened? I'm sitting here now looking for answers because my beloved Tweety is doing the same thing. I washed and dried her this afternoon then when I tried to put her back into the garage she just sat there and when CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK. Lights and dash work fine. She just won't start. I'm at a loss.