NO START! Any Master Techs here?
 

Put ya thinking caps on, this one is tricky. I have a Mazda Millenia S, I've had it for 2 years, but drove it maybe twice a month. I jumped in it yesterday to take it around the block, but battery was dead. I then proceeded to JUMP vehicle off, it started easily. I drove it around then parked in garage. I put the battery on trickle charge all night. Went back out this morning to start it up, and NOTHING. Battery read 12.6V.
So at that time I was thinking maybe starter solenoid may be sticking. So I gave it a few taps with a ball peen. Tried starting it again and it started up. Turned it off then tried again, NOTHING! After looking around, I noticed the posts on solenoid were somewhat corroded. So i took a wirebrush & sandpaper and started removing the green ****. After all was clean. I then tried again, NOTHING! I'm throwing **** now.
Here is what I'm seeing & hearing. I noticed when vehicle ran, the small digital A/C display in mid-dash, was illuminated when key was in the ON position. Now it isn't, but when I try cranking car. I hear a relay click on front/driver side engine compartment and the A/C blower motor comes on while trying to crank. But blower goes off when key is released back to the ON positon and A/C display is still off. I dont hear/feel the starter solenoid engaging. I'm getting 12.5V at (+) on solenoid. Signal wire, while key is off, is reading less than .1V, with key ON signal wire reads 4.5V, while trying to crank signal wire reads 4.4V.
RANDOM INFO: Vehicle was in minor front end collision, Vehicle was bought from the north so undercarriage has medium rust due to salt,
I've unbolted and cleaned all grounds I can find. I"m clueless at this point. If anyone has had this problem or have any ideas. Any info given would be greatly appreciated. If u need any more info write me back and I'll get it to you. Thanks for your time.

have you tried jumping it again? batteries can show good voltage, but have no cranking power. just because it got trickle charged, dont mean it has enough power to crank.

Yes I've tried jumping it again, but same problem still occurs. I'm goin to look at it a little more tomorrow, and I'll update.

you mean NOTHING?
 

does it crank? i was having the same problem with no cranking,id open the hood,wiggle this and that and it would start. a few days later ,no cranking and would do the same thing. one day i happen to push the gear shift forward, wala... starts every time now. nuetral safety switch wasnt contacting good i guess.may check into that

No it doesn't crank. I've ran the shifter through all gears, but haven't held it in any position but I'll try it.

The thing thats still trippin me out. Is that the A/C blower fan comes on only while trying turning the ignition & the digital A/C display is off when key is ON. I've checked ALL fuses I can find.

it SOUNDS like an ignition switch problem, but i aint no master tech, and i have never encountered this problem. did a bunch on bmw. talk about strange, on an E39 5 series, to diagnose the ign switch, you pull open the passenger side visor and turn on the vanity lite. if the radio comes on, the ign switch is bad. 100%. people would laugh at me, but after they did it, amazement.

At todays end, I'm leaning towards ignition switch as well. Because now the blower motor is kicking in intermittently while tryin to start. I've tested relays, continuity through wires, and :mad:! And this all sucks because I have to get it running to address other problems, like why TCS/TCS OFF lights comes on & puts vehicle in LIMP mode. Thank you all for your help.

now, i've had that. quite common for the 2.3. there is a row of solenoids that live over the right bank, to the driver's side of the egr valve. if you pull the codes, most likely it is 1525/26 and 1540. those are abv vacuum and vent, and the abv itself. if you ohm the solenoids, esp when they are hot, you can tell. good is 26-30. if they ohm hi, like 50+, or 0, they are done. also, the car has 21 ft of vacuum line. if the abv circuit is leaking, you will pull the same codes, and the car will go limp home.

I pulled codes on it last year, and I recall the P1540 being pulled. It had a couple more I think but not sure if it was the 1525/26. I remember it saying ABV vent solenoid or something like that.

I located the row of 'noids. The Ohm range u gave me, does that apply to all of them?

the vent is second from the right, and the vacuum is closest to the driver. both these are ohm'd, the other 2 i have never heard of causing a problem. but you need to also check the vacuum lines that control these. to get at the vacuum lines, you have to pull off the intake. quite a job, not hard, but long. if you havent done it yet, this would be a good time to change the sparkplugs, too.

that ignition switch looks like a bear.the steering column has to come out i think.on my sons 96 millenia non S,the car would start fine but when he went to turn off the car the starter would KICK in for a second when you turned the key back,it would go to START positions,it was kicking the starter on real quick and go EEEK!!.was going to change the swith but looked like too much to mess with ,and expensive, $100 for a switchi think.i just rewired the switch ,without taking the column out, so the START position was diabled and we ran a KILL swith. no more starter grinding. the tcs/limp mode is probably a vacuum leak AND the 2 selonoids KENIN talked about.another thing,one time i was digging back there and got 2 solenoid connectors swapped.i thought they were keyed and you couldnt swap them so i didnt really tag anything, but i have 2 connectors the same and while they were swapped it would do tcs/ limp mode.i think its the egr ,and one of the abv solenoids.took awhile to figure that out.had the 1540 and 1525/26 and i dont remember the other code but they all vanished once i swapped the connectors back.good luck

i would guess neutral safety switch. and the ecm is behind the radio. good luck on that, not a fun job

Hey kennin ! thanks 4 ur fast response!! let me bring u up to date ... after my post I went to my car trying to pin point the trouble & came to this: moving the ignition switch on & off makes the ck engine light to come on .. then I can crank & the engine start w/o any issue. That rules out the neutral switch ! Now, does any one can lead me to a schematic or have any experience with this same problem ??

ignition switch
 

sounds like the ignition switch needs to be replaced. its wearing out and not making contact inside all the time

Thanks 4 ur input rocoe ... Definitively, I'm qualified to to do a change of ign switch ... if necessary. Even a jumper in order to rule out other possible causes. But my neighbor, who owns a BMW-only repair shop, told me some test must be made to rule out the pcm...have u heard about that ??
PS MODERATOR..I opened a new tread with the same trouble..It's possible to move kennin & rokoe comments ??...:cool:

oh rocoe !
ign switch wearing at 49k ? ... will try contact cleaner just 4 a try..then ebay for an ign switch...just in case.. thanks ..:cool:

Well, I removed the ign switch, inspect it & test it & it was ok...Testing the wires found 2 ign leads ..the black/red tested ground-negative which leads me to believe that it goes to a relay, prolly to the ecm...another thing I discovered is that there's no need to move the ign key to make the cel go on..just wait a couple of seconds . I think ECM is monitoring the ign circuitry & some sensor is not reporting as needed ... crank sensor ?:cool:

Rocoe.. I don't know how good is ur back but to remove the Ign S u need to remove 1 screw...lay on ur back & look for ign assembly (use ur tactile powers if needed) remove the Phillip screw, hold the plastic ign switch & move it up-down till it pop out of the casing ...as always removing everything in the middle helps 4 an easier job ... :cool:

BACK TO THE ORIGINAL DISCUSSION ON THE NO START... I found the problem!!! There are several grounds sharing a ground harness. It's located by the EGR. Just one bolt holding these gorunds down. It was loose & no shiny contact points betweeen surfaces. So i cleaned up all contact surfaces & cleaned bolt and WAa BAAAM... The car starts everytime now & A/C display is working...

I'm hearing & trying all ur recommendations guys..plz keep them coming..ur a good group of freak..like me !! ..wife say I'm spending more money on my milly than on her ..don't hear her, is exaggerating !!

NICE FIND!! i foregot to hooked up that connector one time and my car started but was running like it had 1 or 2 cylenders.scared the crap out of me! didnt even think of that but sounds like that should take care of alot. i get the same thing from the misses "why did you buy that car?" it is a bear to keep running,especially with 180,000 miles.but when it runs its the best car ive ever had.as a matter of fact im leaving now for my saturday morning drive along rt66 in oklahoma.get it up to about....well you know,get the cobwebs out.my only suggestion would be check codes and go from there .. replace vacuum hoses and T,s and check/replace both the abv solenoids if the codes come up.

code report bad knock sensor........I'm hearing an ugly sound coming from the right side of the engine bay..proly the water pump or a pulley from the ign belt sys..Already ordered the ks & belt repair kit, including water pump. I don't believe this will take care of the cel issue but I'm gonna start from there (it needs the maintenance any way) ..what about if I test-change the cps ???..is possible this sensor is starting to go & don't be detected by scanner ?? oh ! happy weeeeeing !! on ur ride !!

A full set of parts 4 changing timing belt, water pump, damper, etc, arrived yesterday & I'm deciding who's gonna do the work ..not a "2nd hand" here ..
Meanwhile, was trying to get more info 4 troubleshoot & thanks to perseverance heard a serial of "relay's click" 's kinda sound that came from "main Relay" from the inner side of the right fender, near the main fuse box & also from the radiator area... mmmm, think I'm getting closer to my problem.. as today..think is a wrong signal from a sensor that is part of the "before starting security process" ... only if ... ????.....

Today I took my mill to a shop that specialize in racing vehicles (There was nissan Skyline, right handed, for tune up !!) for a change of timing belt, knock sensor, etc, etc
lets see next week how it works outs...meanwhile, also got the mitchel book to check the squematics...maybe I can learn something about ign sys....if interested, keep reading this tread...labor & parts as today: $650.00

For the records : problem was solved by changing a green relay on the main fuse panel...and also changed the knock sensor just to forget there was red signal there for more than 4 years :)...I'm happy :)

hey any updates on this problem? I have the same tcs & tcs/off coming on randomly followed by rpm fluctuation. Also my car intermittently doesnt start on warm starts. Any ideas?

I have a 1997 millenia 2.5l. changed the ignition coil, cap, rotor, spark wires, plugs, o2 sensors, camshaft sensor. Currently i have no codes on the car.

Last night i did notice the IAC valve/sensor was making a whirring noise, when the car was off (after it wouldnt start) I disconnected the sensor, and the noise stopped. When I re-connected the sensor (no more sound) the car started up fine. This happened again about an hour later, and then I repeated the steps, and the car started up. Could it be the IAC causing the intermittent no start on a warm start?