Expert: Roland Finston - 12/6/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hello Roland, I've been having some trouble with my sebring. A few weeks ago I noticed that my car would intermittently turn off and immediately turn right off. After the 4th try the engine would not turn over. A few days ago the car did the same thing and as of then has not turned on. Reading some blogs I heard of a possible key issue. I was going to have a locksmith make me a new key. When he showed up, he used a diagnostic scanner to see if the car would produce a fault code. No codes were found. He then used a computer which he inputted the key pin code I got from the dealer. That still didn't turn the car on. He thought it may be a electrical issue. I got home today and tore my dash apart to see what I might find. The car does have an after market alarm, don't know if that may be on of the issues. But the aftermarket alarm does look to be working fine. I did notice two relays by the gas pedal that i don't know what they are for. After inspecting them I noticed one of them was pretty warm and wasn't switching over. As of right now I wouldn't know where to start any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

ANSWER: Hi Julio.
Because it has an aftermarket alarm, the behavior of trying only 4 times and then refusing to crank sounds like that might be a characteristic of that alwarm but without the manual for it I wouldn't be sure of that. There is one relay I could locate to the right of the steering column and that is the illuminated entry relay, which may very well be warm if you had any interior lighting in use just before you touched it. It has a 9-pin black plug with 5 wires and is square. I am not sure what the other one is for.
Have you pulled a spark plug cap and checked to see if you are getting spark? Put the tip of an insulated handle screwdriver in the cap, then hold the driver and cap and place the shaft of the screwdriver 1/4" from the engine block/head and have a helper crank it over while you watch for spark to jump across.
Do you hear the fuel pump run for ahout 1 second when you turn the key to the 'run' position?
Do you hear/feel the starter motor relay click when a helper tries the 'start' position?
Does the starter motor crank over the engine at all?
Do you have the manual for the alarm system?
I am thinking it could be a 'no start' with 'no codes' rather than a theft alarm problem.
It that were the case I would take a look at the egr valve as if that hangs up ajar, it will prevent the engine from catching and idling.
Let me know the answers to my questions and we'll go from there.
Roland
Roland

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello Roland,
Thanks for the quick response. The day after I tore the dash apart I was able to look into it. At first I wanted to check the ignition switch I just reseated the connectors which did not do anything. After that I located a black module that has a ring attached to it which wraps around the key cylinder. It's a seimens component which I also disconnected and reconnected. After reseating the connector the car turned right on. It has been running fine since. Don't know what the issue might have been. Also I looked into the after market alarm found a service and owners manual online for it. It's a Avital 2200, which after reading through found it might not have been what was causing the problem. Hopefully this can help someone else who might come across the same issue I had.

Answer
Hi Julio,Thank you sharing that success story. The black module with a ring for the ignition lock cylinder is clearly an aftermarket sentry key immobilizer antenna and module. The ignition key has the bulge in the handle that is sensed by the ring and gives the OK for the engine to run and continue running. I would believe that it was a poor connection between the ring and module that caused the problem.
Roland