2001 S-Type 3.0
Trying to get my daughters car running again. Symptoms are: she was sitting in her car letting it warm up, started hearing a noise she described as “Darth Vader” coming from her engine bay/heater vents. Then a popping noise. She panicked, and turned her car off. When she tried to restart it, dash lights etc come one but car will not attempt to crank. When turning the key, all lights go out. Tried jumping the battery. Disconnecting and reconnecting negative cable, and checked fuses. Nothing seemed to help. While under the hood, with key left in the on position, I hear a whistling coming from the part I have circled in yellow(back of TB). Also the hose that the arrow is pointing to in this pic is destroyed. Could this line, or anything connected to it be causing a problem with a sensor or something that would give me this no start condition?

 

That plastic pipe has been rubbbing, and now has a hole, you know that. It is easily fixed with a hos replacing the length.

Down the rear of engine, the other end of said pipe, it a 90deg elbow (NOT the one in the "V", and this elbow is attached to a stand pipe. This rear elbow is flimsy, and splits with age and heat.

Cannot see either these causing a NO crank issue.

Try locking and then unlocking the car, works on one of mone sometimes.

Then, look at the "P" next to the gear lever, with the Ign ON. It should be RED and lit up. If NO lit up, NO crank. Move the lever to "N", and try again.

This snap shows the rubber thingy at the rear, and what happens.

 

Thank you for the help. This is, in fact, the same hose. Mine is in about 4-5 pieces, no hole. The thing was in 3 pieces when I found it, and I broke it at least one more time on the front piece pulling it off the barb. I’d like to know the name of this hose, or a part number so that I can buy one at the parts store.

 

That pipe with the end bits, is XR8 39225

The rubber adaptor thing is XR8 19733.

I suggest a sit down first as the 1st one is insane $, the 2nd is acceptable.

 

Outstanding and much appreciated!! I’ve been looking for a part number or description for 3 days lol. I’ll give the Gearshift a try when I get back to the car. Thanks again!

 

This is definitely a strange scenario. No idea what to make of the noises. I've worked on many vehicles, but have never heard one say, "I am your father, Luke."

One thought is the battery may have slowly run down, at idle with a high electrical load. Unless the alternator has totally failed and turned on the little battery light, you don't really get any indication of a charging system that is not keeping up.

I'd suggest putting a charger on the battery overnight. A trickle charger won't cut it. You'll need a charger with at least a ten amp output. Then take the battery to a shop that can load test it. Many auto parts stores will do this for free.

See if this makes any difference. No guarantee of a fix, but it's a basic troubleshooting step that needs to accomplished.

 

When mine let go at that adaptor in the snap above, the sound was like a very poor attempt at Bagpipe playing, and the engine ran like crap.

I simply plugged the pipe at the rear of the throttle body, thus stopping the vac leak, and continues on the road trip.

I also agree, the alternator may have seized, and that would give all sorts of weird noises.

Lots of looking and sorting to be done me thinks.

 

I'm not fully sure I agree with myself...

I should have clarified the broken hose is the likely source of the noise. There seems to be two faults currently present. The hose may have been broken for some time, but not necessarily making any noise until now, or causing any severe problems. But the broken hose shouldn't have caused the no-crank condition. Poor running, P0171 or P0174 codes? Sure, but none of those would have prevented the starter from engaging, even if the engine wouldn't actually start.

That's why I'm thinking there are two faults in play. Fix the broken hose, that's simple enough. The no-crank? That's going to take some basic troubleshooting. As previously suggested, make sure the P or N is illuminated on the shift lever bezel. The starter won't engage unless the computer thinks the transmission is in P or N. And per my previous message, maybe the no-crank is caused by something as simple as a depleted battery.

Keep us posted.

 

The lights going out when starting is attempted suggest (as mentioned earlier) possible battery issues or perhaps a short circuit or other issue with the starter/solenoid. As Karl suggests, some basic troubleshooting is needed here.

 

I'm going to second this motion...

I don't see how a busted hose can create a No crank No start. On my 2003 STR if the vehicle is not in Park or Neutral the lights do not dim when the key is turned.

I hope you get to the bottom of this.

 

Lights dimming during crank means bad battery. Bad starter. Or seized engine.

get a charger on it and get it up to full charge. Then try to crank it.

but first, LOOK AT EVERYTHING CAREFULLY !!! Look for bad connections, burnt wires, dripping oils, something wrong! Is the belt frayed? Can you take the belt off and see if the alternator spins, water pump? Power steering? Something may have froze and is loading the engine. Any codes?

 

Don't scare the poor guy! Maybe somebody filled the crankcase with wet concrete and it finally set up, but I'm going to hold off investigating that for now...

The fault could be as simple as a corroded battery terminal, or a marginal connection in the system, so don't panic. Don't go furiously changing parts. Still waiting to hear back what happens after giving the battery a full charge. We can walk you through the next steps after knowing that. Any updates? Hope this wasn't a drive by...

 

Oh ya. Bad connections too

 

I have tried charging the battery twice. Once the first day, and one more time after I loosened and retightened the battery cables. Nothing changed. In P, dash lights go out (except the seatbelt light) when I try to crank. Gearshift light is on in P, but tried to start in N. Didn’t work. Swapped all relays and fuses pertaining to starter and ignition. Nothing. Jacked the car up and tapped the starter while trying to start. Nothing.

Battery is less than a year old. All wires that I can see look ok.
Some additional info if it helps:
1.When trying to crank, get a loud click from the passenger side relay.
2.when trying to start, get a loud click from a relay under hood.
3. It is also clicking somewhere near the intake manifold, but I could not tell where.

 

Sure sounds like it's "just" power-related, be it a shorted starter or bad ground/power connection or battery that's given up (even new ones can fail).

 

Do you know if there were any other issues with the vehicle prior to this? Misfire codes? Knocking sounds?

If the lights are dimming you are getting power on that circuit past the J gate so check forward from there.

I know you mentioned charging the battery twice. We still need to know if it is holding the required voltage needed to crank the engine.

 

That’s the next step. I’ll be pulling the battery and taking it to Autozone for testing. Yes, there was a misfire code, a catalyst bank code, and the usual vvt codes.

 

+1 on that.

My next suggestion is to read the battery voltage before start. Generally, you want to see at least 12.6v before start, but the early models aren't as fussy as the 2003+ cars.

Continue watching the battery voltage while a helper holds the key to start. My hunch is you will see the voltage drop precipitously. This fits the symptoms of the multiple clicking relays.

There are more steps after that, of course, but we can follow up after you tell us about the battery voltage. Please note these preliminary steps aren't always conclusive. They typically just steer you to the next step in troubleshooting, so don't start throwing parts at the car until we reach something conclusive.

Also, don't panic. I know the problem seems horrific, but it's going to be relatively easy to isolate. You've got a hard, repeatable fault, in the comfort of your driveway. Compare this to chasing down an intermittent fault by the side of the freeway at night in the middle of a gang war. You'll just need to run through some systematic troubleshooting, that's all.

 

Any updates?

 

Sold the car for scrap. F it. Thanks to everyone for the help,