My 07 V8V has had this happen on two separate occasions now. I will go to start the Vantage in the morning and turn the key, everything normal happens. Power, beauty, soul. All the warning lights turn off. Proper chimes happen. Nothing seems amiss and then the ignition button will not turn red, and when pushed, nothing happens. The most recent time I swapped key and fob on the theory that the car was not reading the RFID function of the chip or fob and therefore was not starting. This time it seems to have been the solution. Has anyone else had this happen? I can't think of any other reasons for this to be intermittent and inconsistent if it is a battery or read failure. Other potential reasons I arrived at included a clutch depressed sensor, a brake interlock issue of some sort, or a failure in the ignition switch button its self....I'm open to suggestions. When I mentioned this to the dealer in Orlando we agreed it may be the key fob batteries needing replacement and purportedly this was done back in early August. Anyone else have this problem?

 

The remote FOB or battery condition has nothing to do with starting. Chip is in the key head.

 

if i remember correctly and fully understand the symptoms and problem (not sure that i do...) there was someone a while back with a similar problem and it turned out the button was just stuck in the on, or off position. don't remember which.

 

The button is not stuck, it moves as normal. The start up process proceeds normally once the key is in the ignition and rotated to position 3 where one would normally start the car. The engine start button at this point does not light up red as it normally does. When one pushes the button and it is not lit up, nothing happens. Cycling the key (the first time this happened) eventually got the engine start button to light up and start the engine. The most recent time, swapping key and remote over to the second pair got the button to light up and start the car.

 

hopefully it will continue to start and you will have isolated the source of the failure. good luck.

 

I've had occasional no-red-ignition-light on my glass key manual db9. I would have to remove and reinsert the key and then it will be OK. It will always work without fault on the second insertion. But the first could be 50/50. I don't need this to fail on me for good one day.

I was under the impression that the older pre glass key cars would be more robust in this area, but it sounds like you have similar problems to me.

I should try with the plastic key and see if I have the same randomness.

 

To me, that sounds an awful lot like a chip in key read failure...I wonder how that system works, exactly...

 

It is essentially the same technology as RFID tags. The chip is the key has a code permanently programmed into it and the car transmits a RF exciter signal to read it back. The key chip requires no battery and gets its power from the RF signal. The ECU compares the code to the allowed ones and engages the starter.

 

I believe the mystery may be solved. I have Lloyds mats in my Vantage and they sometimes creep up behind the pedals. The most recent non-illumination event appears to have been caused by the mat keeping the clutch pedal from going all the way to the floor. I suspect there is an interlock switch like Land Rover use somewhere on the pedal assembly for the starter system...I'll post if my theory changes!

 

Resurrecting since I have the same symptoms. I can get a good start 100% of the time by slowly inserting the key, pushing with two fingers. It's 50/50 on the first try if I push down quickly. The dealer, and another thread here by Irish, say it's a sign the ignition module is on the way out. Dealer quoted $1717 for the part and $500 labor, which I understand requires re-flashing each key -- so it can't be done without AMDS. I'll get it fixed if it gets worse, but it seems ok for now. It's probably an internal antenna wire out of alignment and something an electrical engineer could figure out and fix, if such a person could be found.

 

I don't think this is the case, since the volvo key cars have the same issue and I'm sure their chip reader is a totally different configuration.

 

Your comment sent me down a rabbit hole on Volvo forums. Volvo has multiple key systems, but one of them is quite similar: shove the same key into a dash receptacle, push a (separate) button to start. Volvo calls it the "Start Control Unit" so I can see where someone at Aston thought "let's rename that 'Emotional Control Unit.'" Volvo owners don't like paying $1k to fix a $165 part either.

Anyhow, that brought me to an active ebay listing, $600 for a used ignition module that had some great pics. The AM ignition module is multiple parts screwed together. It's sold as one, but I'm just wondering if the part that's actually worn down or misaligned could be patched up without rekeying. You're right, though, that the Volvo guys haven't solved it.

 

One thing people did once upon a time for duplicating expensive keys was to remove the chip from a working key, glue it inside the barrel next to the reader and then just machine another physical "dumb" key. The chip reader only activates when the key is pushed/turned in so all you needed was something to activate it. I'm assuming the same thing is possible here too. One could glue the chip into the dock so its always in perfect reading range, and then using any dumb/unprogrammed (the remote lock would still need to be programmed) glass key from Ebay, pushing into the dock should activate the reader and start the car. Obviously this is terrible from an anti-theft aspect but who is to know other than you? Its like hiding your front door key under the blue gnome with the red hat.

 

I did see mention on the Volvo threads of some attempts to remove the RFID chip ending in failure because removal was too destructive. But I like your thinking. I'll look for the gnome.

The best anti-theft device on a Vantage is the parking brake, and for those with a manual, the transmission. The immobilizer chip is completely redundant.