The Safrane.Info Forum!

Have you changed the plip batteries yet?
Think theres 2x CR2016 batteries in the key,it might be one,but i think its 2.
Roof area being dry is a good sign,you can pour some water gently down the corners of the sunroof frame and see if it runs out the bottom,removing the rear section of the inner wheel arch trims at the front will show the tubes Saffles mentions,they get clogged up and then the water just backs up.
Having a spare key would of been handy to see how that worked,but it seems like a problem that won,t go away.
When you plip the car does it unlock all the doors fine with no issues,but when you get in and try to start it it won,t start?
Does the speed on the immobiliser light change when the car is locked then unlocked trying to start?

Just been told that they suffer from a possible broken wire where it enters the injection computer,it might be worth checking that when it next plays up,have a wiggle gently with the loom that goes into the computer and see if it starts up....

You need to remember, that was only a theory, I didn't say that was definitely the issue but only that immobilisers normally disable the car when there is a voltage drop as its a sign of tampering by a theif. There may well be something else going on here with your car.

As V6RXE says, you need to look at other things too. Ours wouldn't start for over a year due to a bad connection in the autobox wiring loom connector block. I still don't understand it but when i disconnected it, cleaned it up, reconnected the autobox came back to life and let the car start

Safranes are quirky but loveable cars.. but i must emphasise the quirky bit.

autospark now reckons it is likely a starter motor failure. I've had bad starters on previous cars i've owned but usually there has been symptoms of them beginning to fail such as being noisy etc but he reckons they can just fail pretty suddenly. Right enough after he whacked it the car started again (but with it being intermittent it might have just been luck it started after that.). Took bloody ages to get access to it as well. I have committed to getting a replacement fitted, if it continues play up after this i will give up and be selling it for spares / repairs. Unfortunately i don't have the space to breaking it on a busy Edinburgh street so it will be a collect in one piece job. I amen't skilled enough with mechanics to fix myself and my wallet isn't big enough to be throwing piles of money into something as a process of elimination, auto sparks don't come cheap!

he tested the key fob batteries and all ok

I can,t see it being a starter if you unlocked it and turned the ignition and got the "Warning message....."thats immobiliser issue not starter,but if he gave it a tap and it starter then maybe....
He should know his stuff being an auto electrician,let us know how you get on,but as Saffles said they are very quirky and do have there bad days.
I would be interested in it if for sale but the miles away is a no no for me.

i've no idea to be honest, will find out in time. I'm inclined to agree, why would the immobilizer kick in if it is a starter motor fault but then who knows, as has already been suggested if there's not enough power it may kick in so it could be the same for the starter not working.

I will be a bit gutted if i do have to let it go not only financially, but with such low miles it is such a smooth runner and everything works perfect until this annoying starting issue developed. It drives as if it has at least another 200,000 miles left in it easily, driving it today after it started was faultless.

Plip battery testing is pointless. My plip has often played up.. tested the batteries and they measured the correct voltage. Put them in, no response from the car. Swap for new ones and the car un/locks instantly.

As for the starter, as V6 says, seems odd that the immobiliser is active.. so i don't think it's the starter.. but who knows.. it's always possible it's causing a ground or short etc that is upsetting the ecu. Stranger things have happened at sea... and in our safrane!

As for sinking money into it.. don't get me started. The amount of money i've spent on ours is beyond belief. I'm not talking a few hundred either.

The sudden whack does make me think that you might have a loose wire or ground point somewhere. If you're committed to replacing the starter then go second hand not new.

FYI, I had a problem with my Ph 1 2.5dt auto starting some time back.
Initially I worked out I was rushing the system, so got into the habit of waiting 5-10 seconds (inc glow plug time) before starting.
However that didn't work one time so after much head scratching, uumming and aarrrrhing I moved the selector out of park into neutral and tried the usual procedure....... and it started. I got the garage to check the gear selector sensor was OK and haven't had that problem since.

So it's been a week since i had the new starter motor fitted and thankfully the issue has not reoccurred since so fingers crossed that's that gremlin sorted.

In other news the car had it's MOT today and flew through it with just a few very minor advisories (same as last year's, slightly worn brake pads.)

So i'm hoping this old car will give me a few more miles yet.

Great news,good to hear to the Safrane has been going well and an added bonus with a new MOT,be worth getting the pads done though.