The other day the oil change indicator appeared on the dash. Upon calling the dealer they suggested as it was only a thousand miles till it needed servicing just to keep checking the oil level and it should be ok to leave it until then. Today I have reset it manually (as you do for the service indicator, not sure now that I should have done now) and now the engine wont start. It may be a coincidence but I cant help thinking its not.

Everything else seems to work ok and I cant seem to find any fuses which need replacing. When I turn the key to try and turn the engine there is nothing at all.

I am a member of the AA but dont have home start and they want eighty quid and probably wont be able t fix it anyway. I think its an engine management issue but I dont really know.

I am stranded and would GREATLY apppreciate ANY suggestions anyone may have. Is it possible it could have put itself into a 'safe mode' or something and is it possible to reset the ECU???

HELP!!!

Get a few mates round and push / tow your car 1/4mile and then call the AA again

Hopefully someone will come along with a sensible solution sometime soon

Thanks for that!

I live in hope but its Sunday and theres no one about!

Think it would be pretty severe side effect if it was caused by the service message reset!

On cars I've previously owned the usual culprit for engine not kicking into life has been a failed stater motor.

If you are feeling energetic you could try putting the car in gear and rocking car back and forth to see if that frees the starter motor.

Good luck

MAPGO

I will give it ago. Thanks.

I have just read that if you disconect the battery for 30 minutes it wipes all set deafults. Any mileage in giving this a try do you think??

Just tried pushing it a round the yard and it dint work. Bugger. There is no clicking from the starter motor or anything. Its almost as if there is no power to it. It couldnt be part of the security sytem, like an immobilser stopping it could it?

I had a ford (fix or repair daily) focus (latest model) that died with 40 miles on it... turned out the ECU was no longer recognising they key, and the imobiliser had killed the fuel pump! (thought I was trying to steal it!)Had to be sent back to ford, couldn't even have the key reprogrammed at the dealer!

Thats kind of what I thinking has happened but the central locking still works so could it still be that? And why would it randomly do it? Ive tried the spare key and thats the same.

spare key has the same code, so if its not recognising the original key wouldn't make a difference....

dunno if thats your problem though... only guessing.......

Its the only clue I have so thank you!

I think Im going to try resetting it by disconnecting the battery on the off chance it works. You never know.

Its the only clue I have so thank you!

I think Im going to try resetting it by disconnecting the battery on the off chance it works. You never know.

worth a try....

Wont be a factory immobilizer issue as they start even with an unprogrammed key, then they cut out.

Hows the battery? Geabox earth?

The battery if fine but I dont know about the gearbox earth. How do I check that?

Thanks.

Got any jump leads? If so connect on to a metal part of the engine and one to the neg battery terminal.

unfortunately my mate has my jump leeds and I cant get hold of him.

The car is a VRS (forgot to mention before). Would the gearbox earth really effect the starter motor not turning? there arent anymore fuses under the bonnet are there?

Also the vehicle doesnt appear to have any fuse (never has) in the ignition fuse space as showed by the manula (fuse no 52 I think). What other number fuse space could it be in? I have checked them all and they seem to be ok but I might try replacing any speciifc fuses just in case.

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I was searching for clues as my Ibiza is suffering from the same symptoms and was wondering what your issue turned out to be.

It was fine at midnight last night when I finished work but when I went to go out earlier it wouldn't start. Dashboard lights come on and go out as expected but there's no attempt to start the engine. The one thing I did notice eventually is I cant hear the fuel pump prime itself so wonder if that may be part of the problem? Any idea how I could test it?

I have tried bump starting and jump starting the car without success, checked the fuses and couldn't see any blown ones.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Johnsey

Ecu may have had a 'hissy' fit. Bit like a pc goes on one then shuts down to prevent damage. disconnect and see if it fire up, if not, i;ll get me coat hehe

I've tried disconnecting the battery but it made no difference but thanks for the suggestion