Hey guys.
yes another thread about starter motors, but please try and bare with me on this, I have checked countless threads on this issue. To start with I was trying to start my car after a while of it sitting there (probly about 4 weeks), prior to which it started fine. Needless to say it wouldn't crank over, no noises, no nothing. So i charged up the battery for a couple of days and whacked it back in.
This time I got 2 noises, one of which was the relay on the ride hand side near the lights (normal), other noise was a single click of the starter motor which sounded pretty solid, it was just not turning the car over. So i hooked up my jumper pack assuming that is still needed more juice to get it going. The same thing happened again.
So i took out the starter motor and stripped it back. The bushes (i think that is what they are called) seemed to be fine, and apart from black powder in there it seemed fine. So i cleaned it out and put it back together.
I put it back in the car and went to start it and only got the relay tick and no starter motor noise. I am putting this down to the fact that i seem to have misplaced the nut that holds the red power cable to the solenoid, so atm it just sort of sitting on it......yes very stupid. So i did the old screwdriver trick on the starter. All that happens is the starter motor seems to spin, but doesn't shoot out and meet the fly wheel to start the car. I am putting this down to the solenoid being fubar, i am right in thinking so?
Sorry for the length, but having the explanation might give you a better idea of what the problem may be.
Cheers
Christian
That 'solid click' of the starter you heard would have been the solenoid throwing out, so i don't think that is your problem.
More than likely a screwed battery. Measure the voltage while someone cranks it for you. Any less than 10-11v and you've found the problem.
worst case scenario.................your head gasket might have been iffy before and after 4 weeks it's leaked water into a cylinder and your engine has locked because the cylinder that filled up is on the upward compression stroke. hope i'm wrong.
you can get a 27mm socket and bar and turn the engine over by hand to rule out this. PLz mate do what i said with the terminals as this EXACT senario happened to me.
Try jump starting it with something with a heavy duty battery (the bigger the motor the more it uses to crank over so if you have a v8 handy, use that to jump it)
As mentioned above the solid click is the solenoid. (solenoids only require about 10-12 volts to engage) But in order for the starter motor to actually spin your crank, not only do you need minnimum 12 volts you also need plenty of amps.
i'd give the battery a loading test (any auto electrician can do this)
they unscrew all the caps on the top of your battery, load it up with resistance and see if any of the cells start bubbling. my bet is it's got at least one dead cell. meaning it can still generate 12 volts so it can run accessories and the solenoid and maybe your stereo etc. but it no longer has the grunt to spin your crank over. (which is pretty much the hardest thing a car battery ever has to do)
basically thats a really long winded way of explaining i think you need a new battery
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
I tried the battery out of my wagon and the same thing happened......I know that it is charged cos it starts the wagon up.
I have the most ghetto tool kit in the world. I may have to lash out and get a decent one, just need to make sure it has a 27mm socket :P
