The SKREEM failure I had in my roadster was the typical three strike and your out scenario. The SKREEM failure that I had in my coupe was as you (Oldfordman) describe. First turn the key - nothing, second turn of the key - wants to start, third turn sometimes would try other times nothing. Disconnect the battery and the same series occurred. Ordered a new SKREEM from Rob and problem fixed. So from my experience the SKREEM failure is not always the "three strikes and your out" but can occur as I described above.