Problems... 167 Relay. No ignition. Buzzing noises.

[beardface]

You know that feeling you get when you think you've just made your van better, and you've replaced something that was obviously broken, and you turn the key and......

....nothing.

and now you're going to have to call someone around to your house. (the indignity!)

For the good folk that read these harrowing tales, I'm wrestling with a 98 T4 2.0 which I occasionally run on gas...

I replaced the ignition leads yesterday. One of them was corroded at the distributor end.
I haven't replaced the one going to the coil yet. (Perhaps I should)

Anyway, now the bastard wont start. I've had it do a few different things. At first it had a go at it, and gave a couple of sparks. Then it went dead - like a fuse or an immobilizer or something.

I tried it again and got a humming noise. It was dark, so I came back with a torch and a helper, and we found an odd smell. I got her to flick the ignition again and noticed a bit of smoke rising from the starter motor. (???)

In the light of day, I took the leads off the starter and cleaned the connections. The red/black cable with the pin connection seemed to be a little bit cooked, and seems a little bit loose. (but that's nothing)

So I try it again. This time, no turning over but there's no smoke from my starter (minor relief).

What it is doing is making a clicking sound. I find that the clicking is Relay 167. The clicking is similar to the sound that a cd player or a disc drive makes when it cant load the cd. It's a constant -clik-clik-clik-clik-clik-clik-clik

So now I'm wondering....

Do I have a dodgy relay?
Is there anything serviceable in a relay?
Does the clicking indicate a problem with the fuel pump, or possibly another part that it's connected to?

Another thing. (Possibly related but who the heck knows) My very dodgy aftermarket alarm system was making some sad noises. Like a beep every 10 seconds. This was with the key out, and the doors closed, and after pushing the 'unlock' button. So I disconnected it. (I never liked it anyway).

[beardface]

Just ran VagCom Lite on it.

Got a fault code for 01 Engine - start blocked by immobilizer.
Ran it on the Immobilzer circuit (25) - got another fault code - key signal weak.

[Sunny43.5]

Silly question hows the battery ? they can just die without warniing , smoke from terminal could be loose or corroded as it is trying to send high amps across a faulty joint .But you fixed that so check battery .

[beardface]

Yeah...
Battery is fully juiced. I thought that was part of the problem yesterday, so I charged it overnight.

Is the immobiliser a circuit that can be cut out, or is there perhaps something in it that needs to be reset?

[beardface]

So...
I did a bit of reading, and found that the clicking 167 Relay may just be it doing its job, and that something else is going wrong to make it do that.
The advice I took on that front was to disconnect the battery and touch the two leads together.
No idea what that does, but it certainly stopped the relay from clicking.

I then realised that the immobiliser was working properly too, as the car was at least staying on, and not tripping out, although it was not starting.

All I could hear was a loud click which I guessed was the starter solenoid. I had noticed a little bit of smoke coming out of the starter on a previous try. Perhaps it was a dirty connection I thought.... Perhaps I should take the whole thing off and have a good look at it.... Maybe it needs an overhaul..... Silly me....

Here for your amusement, is a photo of my disassembled. starter motor....

http://flic.kr/p/dfGNhB