1.6i 16v Vtr Coupe (2001 51) Starting/immobiliser Problem

[Guest Ialsorideaharley]

I hope someone can help with this - I have a 2001 51 reg VTR Coupe, 1.6i 16v model which has always performed faultlessly since the day I bought it and I have been very pleased with it up till now - it goes well (using super unleaded - if I use standard unleaded it seems a bit lethargic) and has regularly returned around 40mpg overall. The problem I have is this - 2 days ago I went out to the car which had, admittedly, been standing for a couple of weeks, but I always have the battery on an optimiser (clever, me), and pressed the button on the plipper to unlock it and nothing happened, so I suspected the obvious and changed the battery in the fob. Lo and behold, the door magically opened (well, ok, it wasn't magic, but at least it worked) and I jumped in and started the car, first turn as always, drove it around for a couple of miles just to make sure everything worked and parked it up outside the house as I was due to be taking my brother up to Hull early the following morning. When I went out to the car the following morning, I unlocked it, put the key in the ignition, turned it, all the lights came up, fuel pump whined as usual, turned the key to start position and ---- NOTHING!!! The lights all went out on the dash, but engine dead as a dodo and no starter motor. It simply refuses to turn over or start, but it's not the battery - that is fully charged, and I've checked all the fuses I can see which seem to be ok, so HEEEEELP. Any ideas anyone? :P

[Guest Ialsorideaharley]

Follow up - have now solved problem (no thanks to Citroen UK I might add) thanks to a bit of help from a kindly neighbour who saw me lying under my car! It seems that the current was getting through the signal wire (reading 12v at solenoid connection) but was not transmitting through to main power cable on solenoid/starter. He just shorted the two out while I held the key in start position and away it went. I have tried it about a dozen times since then (last night) and it starts every time at moment, but if it goes wrong again at least I'll know what to do, although I might need a mirror and a torch, as it is an absolute bitch to get at down the back of the engine, even worse from underneath. At least with my old chevette, if the starter stuck, I could just hit it with a hammer and it would go -- bloody modern technology! :angry: