Over the past week my Fabia 1.4 mpi W reg, has been a bit hit and miss with starting.

I turn the key and there will be no lights on my dash. No usual warning/check lights that there would be when turning the ignition on. The milage and time are still there on display.

The car turns over, but will not fire up.

After touching wires under the bonnet, the car will finaly display all the warning/check lights, and the car will fire up. Runs fine.

This doesn't happen every time, but only of a morning.

Each time it happens, i've tried to narrow which wire it is that is causing this to happen, but so far haven't come up with anything. When you move one, they all seem to move. I'm not even sure if this is doing the trick, or just a coincidence.

Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

Check the large fuses by the battery. Make sure they are all tight and don't have cracks in them.

Usually this is something to do with either the battery or connectors...or the fuel system eg filter, pump, injectors etc..or fouled spark plugs..

I think you have a wiring problem in the ignition circuit. The fact that you have no lights on the dash indicates to me that there is a break in the LT side of the ignition circuit. The fact that lights come up when you fiddle with wires under the bonnet means that there is a break in a wire, which makes a circuit again when wiggled or that there may be corrosion on a connector which again makes contact again when wiggled. The fact that it only happens in the morning can be due to the resistance in the connector joint increasing overnight due to temperature drop, once the temperature goes up the resistance goes down. I can't see how this can have anything to do with the fuel system or fouled plugs simply due to the lack of lights in the dash.

Get some di-electric grease and start taking connectors apart and giving them a good grease up and wiggly back together

Thank you for all your comments!

My problem has now seemed to of got worse!!!!!

I have checked all fuses and connectors, they all seem fine. Battery is sound. I have checked the wiring in the ignition circuit and this seems to be in good order. The car is now doing it every morning, and no amount of wire wiggling is doing the job. The frustraiting thing is, that after 10 am the car plays ball and starts, drives perfect. But why does this happen only in the morning and not all the time?

I'm beginning to pull my hair out on this one!

Someone has said to me that the ECU could be corrupted. Is this possible?

When I took it to a local garage, for a power steering problem, they checked it with a diagnostic machine. Two of The pins to the connector on this machine were bent, but wasn't noticed untill after they attached it to my car. The machine there for didn't work. The very next morning, I started to have this problem with my car. Could this of caused the problem I now have? If so, can the ECU be re-programmed, or is it a new one I'm looking at? Expensive?

Someone else has also said that it could be the ignition switch. If so, then why am I not having the problem all the time?

I apologise for so many questions!

I would be very greatful of any comments!

When you turn the ignition on, does the cluster show all the lights when it does the 'bulb check' or is it completely blank?

There are no lights displayed at all! The clock and milage are still on display though. The engine will turn over, but will not fire up. This is always of a morning. I can go back to it mid morning, turn the key in the ignition and all the lights will be displayed and the car will start.

Its starting to get frustrating!

Next time it happens, turn on the indicator and see if it flashes.

Which wires under the bonnet were you pulling?

Sounds like the ignition switch is one possibility. Try wiggling the ignition key a bit to see if that helps. Does the interior light come on when the key is removed? Does the stereo turn on?

Next time it happens, turn on the indicator and see if it flashes.

Which wires under the bonnet were you pulling?

To begin with it seemed to be the wires near the battery that did the trick. But each time, I was turning the ignition off, pulling wires one at a time and then turning the ignition back on. In hope that I could narrow it down to a particular one.

As the problem seemed to be more of a regular basis, I then tried it with the ignition still on, and it didn't seem to work. In the end I was pulling all the wires in frustration, and still no joy.

Could I ask you why turn the indicator on?

Edited 29 May, 201115 yr by Mylilly1

Sounds like the ignition switch is one possibility. Try wiggling the ignition key a bit to see if that helps. Does the interior light come on when the key is removed? Does the stereo turn on?

I haven't noticed the interior light to be honest. Each time it has done it, it has been in daylight. My stereo can be turned on without the ignition on.

I haven't noticed the interior light to be honest. Each time it has done it, it has been in daylight. My stereo can be turned on without the ignition on.

We're both thinking along the same lines. The indicator is a better test as it will only flash if the ignition is on.

We're both thinking along the same lines. The indicator is a better test as it will only flash if the ignition is on.

Ok. I'll give it a go. I'll let you know how it goes. Thank you!