mk 1 starting problem.

[natnif]

Last year I picked up a mk1 1.6 but haven't really used it that much. It got the occasional run to keep it ticking over and all was fine. It was started over Easter, I went back to it a week later and got nothing. A dead battery wouldn't have surprised me at all but I hooked up a battery pack to it and it still won't start.

A little more detail: When it has a fresh battery and I turn the ignition on all electrics work. I have lights, heater, radio etc. but when I try to start the car, everything shuts down. It doesn't just lose power, the radio goes through it's shut down sequence and the aerial retracts. At no point during any of this do I have lights on the dash.

It has an aftermarket alarm/immob(meta system) which was behaving itself but I'm wondering if it's acting up and cutting in preventing the car starting....however that doesn't fully add up as I have no dash lights at all, whereas other electrics are working before I try to crank the car.

Any ideas?

A few questions that might help me figure it out as well.
When you turn the key, at what point do you normally get dash lights?
If I pull the fuse from the alarm module wiring, will it disable it,essentially bypassing it but with the wiring still intact?

Any advice is appreciated!

[sidewaysreilly]

do you have full headlights?

[natnif]

Well if I press the button on the dash the lights pop up alright, is that what you mean?

[sidewaysreilly]

do they light up brightly?

[natnif]

do they light up brightly?

I guess I didn't pay a huge amount of attention but from what I remember they were as bright as I would expect them to be....I dropped in a known good battery to rule out any battery problems.

[sidewaysreilly]

well start at the battery terminals, connections on battery, battery to earth, alternator and starter.

[natnif]

ok thanks. We did a small bit with it today just checking some fuses etc so I'll check those other connections as soon as I get time, maybe Thursday.

[natnif]

right it looks like it's definitely the immobilizer anyway...everything else checks out. It's proving really difficult (understandably) to get a wiring diagram for the alarm module...Can anyone help out by answering the questions in the OP? I'd appreciate it!

[natnif]

I forgot to come back to this! It was the immob. I managed to get a wiring diagram and then it was a simple enough fix thankfully!