No-crank — RKE relay and harness damage

Tags: #immobilizer

Symptom: pressing the start button gives no starter cranking at all — the immobilizer warning light flashes, but the green start-button "ready" indicator shows normally, and no relay clicks can be heard anywhere in the car ¹. This is a distinct scenario from the simple starter-relay thermal-sticking issue documented elsewhere in this section (see starter-relay-no-crank.md) — here the absence of any relay click at all points further upstream, toward the permission/enable signal for the starter relay rather than the relay itself.

Diagnostic sequence. (1) Check the RKE (remote keyless entry) relay block first — it's located at the passenger-side door sill/pillar — since the "permission" signal that allows the starter relay to engage originates from the RKE block; inspect its connectors for oxidation ²³. (2) Verify fuse integrity throughout, as a basic check ⁴. (3) Open the RKE block itself and inspect internally for damage/corrosion; after reassembly, re-verify everything again before concluding it's fixed ⁵.

Root cause found in this case: accident-damaged harness. The owner disclosed that after a prior collision, the wiring harness running under the left front fender had been partially severed/damaged ⁶. Given that history, the diagnosis converged strongly (99% per one responder) on this damaged harness section as the actual root cause, rather than a component failure — the earlier RKE-relay-block troubleshooting steps were reasonable first checks, but the real fix required tracing and repairing the specific accident-damaged harness run under the left fender ⁷.

Media

Location photo of the RKE relay block at the passenger door sill

Fuse box / starter relay positions referenced during troubleshooting

Diagram indicating specific connector locations for the starter/RKE circuit

Related pages

• Immobilizer module — location and water damage
• Starter relay sticking — intermittent no-crank
• Key fob programming and battery
• Immobilizer antenna coil winding
• Engine cranks but won't start — diagnostic checklist

Sources

This page is compiled from 7 community messages. Every fact carries a numbered reference to its original author and message.

Last updated: 2026-07-24