2003 Q45 will not start when the key is turned

[Coach333]

Hey Guys....have had my '03 Q45 since new and with 99k miles has developed an issue that has stumped the dealership.

I went thru the posts I could find, but they seemed not to address my particular issue. If you can direct me to a post, I would appreciate it or insight as to what I should 'suggest' to the dealership. I am a tech-no-savvy guy and know more about the beauty of a car rather than the mechanics.

I will give all info since it could matter. It's summer time in middle TN....so it's warm. This is an intermentant problem. I can go weeks without the problem.

When I get in the Q first thing in the morning, The key (ok fob) goes in and the seat goes to it's driving position. I turn the key, the panel lights up and all idiots lights come on. As I turn the key to 'start'......NOTHING. The next sound heard is the HVAC fan.

I turn the key back to off and try again. Sometimes it starts with the next turn of the key. Sometimes it takes 2-3 trys. The car starts normally (well so far) for the rest of the day.

I have had one occasion where I was traveling on a very warm day (95 degrees). I had been driving, at expressway speeds, for nearly two hours when I stopped for gas. After filling up, the car would not start for nearly 20 min. After trying to start it every minute or so..... it just fired up normally.

There is absolutely no sound coming from the engine....it's as if I had no battery except for the idiot lights and the sound of the HVAC fan.

Any insight you can provide would be most helpful.


PS....thanks to this forum I learned all about the timing chain guide issues with Gen !.....why did I trade in my Buckle Front?

[EdBwoy]

This might be of no help...yet, but my 03 m45 used to do that in the winter. It was not a daily driver, and when I unlocked it after a long break the first attempt was like you described - key turns all the way but doesn't seem to catch. The battery was about 10 years old and was eventually replaced, but it was good throughout this period. I did not drive the car often enough to chart any specific trends.
Enter the 05 Jaguar Xj8 this summer; never happened before. The 2nd time it happened, I noticed I had unlocked the doors, quickly got in and almost simultaneously attempted to start the car. Same thing here - it wouldn't respond to me turning the key back to off then on, but it started like normal when I pulled the key out and reinserted it. Security interlock on a timer?

The 02 qx4 used to do that over 75% of the times we attempted to start it and although I had read about the ignition cylinder sometimes developing some slop, this one turned out to be due to a worn key. I made a copy that had sharper edges and that problem went away.

... hopefully, sometime soon we'll make sense of your situation.

[Coach333]

Thank EdBwoy....