Relays

Thats the one, Loads of relays clicking and nothing happening when the starter is engaged.

Will try a load of things tomorrow and see what happens.

David.

An Update:

Been working on the car all evening and found:

Giving the car an earth between engine and chassis with a jump lead made no difference.

Putting 12v directly to the starter made it spin.

When i turn the key I hear the solenoid on the starter click but nothing else happens.

Taken the starter off and when applying 12v directly to the solenoid it clicks, when applying it to the main terminal it spins.

Checked all the relays behind the headlights and reseated them, no difference.

Only other thing I can think of is the inhibitor switch on the auto box. Does anyone know where this is located?

David.

This post has been edited by David Hallworth on March 14, 2009 12:53 am

David, you say the solenoid on the starter clicks. This indicates there is a voltage present. If the autobox inhibitor is doing its job you have no voltage at the solenoid. Seems to me your starter solenoid is faulty. It clicks but it does not close the contacts. I may be wrong . . .

It's the very same I mentioned in an earlier post. It's the black one behind the left hand headlight

Here the relays behind left side headlamp:

Hi David

I was just going to post the pics up. Mine is exactly the same as Jan's.

I completely agree with the posts regarding in the gearbox inhibitor switch - you get nothing with the starter if the switch isn't working. BTW the short solution to this in cars with the earlier four speed gearbox (12v V6) is to give gearbox lever a wiggle side to side when in park. I've never had it with the auto-adaptive gearbox.

Cheers

Tony

I believe as well as the relay there is also an inhibitor switch on the gearbox.

My car seems different to everyone elses.

I've got 4 relays on the right of the car as you face it from behind and 2 on the left.

What i seem to get when engaging the key is a relay that clicks from around the starter. I don't think it's actually the solenoid that clicks. However when attached directly to a 12v supply it does.

Going to test the wiring with a multi metre shortly to check everything is as it should be then possibly strip the starter solenoid.

David.

Aha! By inhibitor switch I thought you meant inhibitor relay [801]. The relay 801, as we now know is supposed to be located behind the left side head lamp, but may be in a different location on your vehicle ( ), is activated by the 'inhibitor switch', which is an integral part of a multifunction switch located on the gear box housing.
Relay 801 is called 'starter relay' by Citroen in the ZF 4HP20 documentation, but also called automatic gearbox relay in the general manual.

The multifunction switch has the number 201 in wiring diagram 590-1/20a. Do you have the XM manual with diagrams?

This post has been edited by Jan-hendrik on March 14, 2009 02:50 pm

Please make sure the gear lever is in park before energising the starter !!!!
Hate to think what might happen otherwise good luck
best regards Bob