2018 Ford Transit MK8 Starting/Ignition problem

[ColinTheCamper]

Hi, my first post and hoping to get some advice on how to solve a starting issue with my 2018 MK8 Transit. I'm a novice with vehicles/electrics but learning fast (as you'll maybe see below

The van is a 2018 reg mk8 350 with a 2.0L 170bhp diesel engine (adblue). I bought it last year as a professional/coach-built camper conversion and have enjoyed a number of trouble free trips away with my wife up until last week when it just decided to not start...

The symptoms are:

Turn on the ignition and the dash lights up as normal with no warning lights/messages. Turn the key further to start and nothing happens other than an audible click from the dash but no error messages.

Things I have checked/tried:

Engine battery charged - ok
Battery connections - ok
Second key - same problem
Starter relay (in engine bay fuse box) - passed the 9v battery/multimeter test (eg clicked when connected to 9v battery and showed v low resistance on multimeter) - but I bought a new one just incase (same problem). Then I left starter relay out and shoved multimeter probes in relay power pin sockets and turned key - didn't register any voltage even though other relays in engine fusebox do when ignition on.
Fuses - checked virtually every fuse in the engine fuse box and the 2/3 fuse panels in the drivers footwell (and relevant relays). Also took the front seat out to access and check pre-fusebox fuses - all seemed ok, but..... whilst my owners manual fuse diagrams seem mostly accurate, the pre-fuse box seems to be missing a section of fuses/relays compared to the owners manual diagram. According to the manual this section should include amongst others: 2 ignition switch relay fuses plus the ignition relay itself (in total 7 relay and 12 fuses are just not there, there's just a space where the panel/sockets should be..??

The only other thing I can think of is there's a problem with the immobiliser, but I have no idea how to test for that.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

[Altransit]

The only other thing I can think of is there's a problem with the immobiliser, but I have no idea how to test for that.

Immobiliser:-

The red LED should flash slowly when the van is switched off to show that it's active. If you switch on with the correct key, the light will go solid red and then go out, to show that the immobiliser is now inactive, and the engine should run.
If you use an uncoded or mismatched key, the LED will flash quickly to show that it's immobilising the starter, and the engine won't run.
If the engine won't run but the red LED light has gone out, then the immobiliser isn't causing the problem.

[ColinTheCamper]

Thanks for the response Altransit. Maybe a silly question but where is the red immobiliser led located on my model? I don't see it even after double locking with the key..

[Altransit]

I don't know as I don't have a Mk8, but on my Mk7 it's located in the speedo clocks, same as a Mk6.

Someone with a Mk8 may be able to help

[dumper]

When I lock my mk8 the yellow lock symbol under the radio/hazard light switch lights up for a few seconds.

[Altransit]

When I lock my mk8 the yellow lock symbol under the radio/hazard light switch lights up for a few seconds.

Does it not have a red P.A.T.S. LED, Dumper

[ColinTheCamper]

Thanks Dumper. Yes my yellow lock also lights up for a few seconds after locking so I'm guessing Ford dropped the red LED indicator with the Mk8. Would prefer a flashing red LED to deter thieves but hey-ho can't live in the past..

[ColinTheCamper]

When I lock my mk8 the yellow lock symbol under the radio/hazard light switch lights up for a few seconds.

Thanks Dumper. Yes my yellow lock also lights up for a few seconds after locking so I'm guessing Ford dropped the red LED indicator with the Mk8. Would prefer a flashing red LED to deter thieves but hey-ho can't live in the past..

[dumper]

My visible deterrent is a disc lock.

[ColinTheCamper]

UPDATE: PROBLEM SOLVED.

So I spent the afternoon yesterday removing and checking fuses from the "Passenger Compartment fuse box" (actually on the drivers side..) and also the "Body Control module" fuse box (also on drivers side). These were mostly fuses I hadn't yet checked as from the owners manual guide description they didn't seem to have any connection to ignition/starter. Anyway needless to say, as with all the other fuses I've checked over the last few days they were all fine. This included the 30A "Circuit Breaker" fuse in the Body Control Module fuse box. I also removed again the Run Start Relay from the Passenger compartment Fuse box (R13) and then plugged it back in (but couldn't be bothered to do the 9v battery remote test on it again...).

Dejected and totally out of options I decided that was it. One more obligatory turn of the key before I skulked off the lick my wounds...but guess what? IT STARTED!!

My van now starts first time, every time without any indication there was ever a problem. I have no idea what led to the fix as all I really did on my last session was remove and put back some fuses and a relay...

Just to complete the story there are a couple of other things I picked up from internet searches and tried last week but didn't mention before as they seemed a bit desperate and didn't seem to work anyway (but just in case they had a delayed effect):

1. Attached main battery to a charger (to boost charge) then turned ignition on and left for 35min. Then removed key from ignition, put it back in and tried to start vehicle. Apparently this is meant to force a reset of the key/immobiliser. Didn't work for me at the time though.
2. Inserted key into ignition, turned on and entered a 4 digit key code using the middle button of the key (eg: 1234 = press once, wait 2 sec, press twice, wait 2 sec etc). This is apparently meant to bypass the immobiliser. Again this didn't work for me at the time but I'm not even sure I had the correct code...

Anyway, hopefully there's something useful in this post/trail that will help others with a similar problem.