Thread: M&S lights flashing & wont start!!! grrrrr

I had a dodgy inertia cutoff switch at one stage, but I think it tripped the hazard lights as well.

You've tried moving the t-bar through the range of gears and back to P again before trying to start it?

M&S lights on the dash only is an indicator for low battery voltage.
It may be a simple as dirty or loose battery leads.
Check the earth lead at the body and motor mounting bolts also.


After the lead check I'd be checking voltages when cranking.
If you don't have a volt meter try this...
Headlamps on,
Crank engine,
Head lights dull out is battery or leads.
Head lights stay bright is wiring/relay/solenoid.


I suspect the battery has died going on what you have posted.

Check earths , have you tried jump starting with the negative on a good earth on the engine , does the display on the dash correlate with what gear you are in ?,

ok folks thank you so much for your input rechecked battery,earths and when i went thru the selector again i found it wouldn't go past 3rd this time so a little persuasion and back into park turn the key wait a little bit and bingo it started and no flashing m&s lights turned it off and go to restart it and nothing so went thru the selector again still nothing so i put a little pressure when it was in P and away it goes again!!yipee, so hopefully the problem is solved as the XYZ switch is only about 2 years old and they are not cheap. again thanks guys you can always count on this site for fixes and helpful friendly advice,tony

Good to hear it's going.




Check for a coin or similar blocking the selector under in the console, wouldn't be the first time it's happened.


Double check the adjustment of the XYZ switch, being only 2 years old it may have a little wear in the plastic.

It would be worth getting under the passenger side of the car to check where the cable for the gear selector connects to what I assume is the XYZ switch.

It is a 10 or 13mm nut that grips onto the cable / rod from memory. There is a small chance this has come loose. If so put it in park then push the lever the cable connects to all the way forward and tighten the cable nut back up.

Also it's a good move to redirect the aircon drain cos it drops directly on the switch's connector and it causes corrosion so unplugging and giving some contact spray in the plug helps as well, especially if u'll use some water repellent anti-corrosive spray like nanoprotech... if you want to get closer to the answer plug in a tester and see the stored fault code in the EAT ECU cos it should be at least one there