49 replies to this topic

[fikus01]

id be thinking bad engine earth or battery earth

see i did try to say but no-one listens, dan the man knows the score as do i, BATTERY/ENGINE EARTHS check them all they are in my experience mostly to blame.

(see i got thru that without using 1 exclaimation mark!!!!!! D'oh )

[paulrockliffe]

I've just been and looked at both earths, both seem fine, no frayed wires and the connections look ok too. Is there a way fo determining if an earth is faulty, I have a resistance meter?

Thanks.

[Dan]

Take the earth lead off of the battery terminal and test the resistance between that and any other earth point, or any shiny bare bodywork that you can see. The earth on the rear of the lamp cluster is conveniently close. The resistance between these should be so close to zero that you can't see any reading at all.

[fikus01]

remove all the earths, using sand paper find bare metal and put them back on again and smear vaselin over them !!

[paulrockliffe]

remove all the earths, using sand paper find bare metal and put them back on again and smear vaselin over them !!

I've just done this (except I used a mini-grinder instead of sand paper) with the battery earth strap and the engine earth that runs from the engine to the bulkhead engine mount and it's not made any difference, still just getting a loud click when pressing the start button.

Can anyone suggest a suitable place for me to attach a jump lead to the engine, so that I can earth it through jump leads to the battery, so that I can see whether it is an earth problem or not for sure before I start taking things to bits.

Thanks.

[Roo]

Have you found the problem.

I too have had a similar problem. I posted up and got different answers.

I used haynes manual to get info as it tells you what to check. Problem with this happening it can be a number of things. when i got the clicking noise the first thing to check would be the battery. I also assumed it was the starter motor. I had to bump start mine as booster pack and hitting the starter motor didn't do anything.

My battery was flat. charged it up and my car now starts with no problem. which left me confused as it was a brand new battery. I'm now led to believe its a number of causes. I've taken my car to the mechanic and he agrees it could be either dodgy battery, connections, alternator etc. I've installed a new battery and now I'm checking regulary to see if its kept the charge.

Start with the battery. see if its flat and go from there.

Roo

[paulrockliffe]

Thanks,

It's definitely not the battery, I've been charging that up fully every time I go to try and fix it. Going to have a play tomorrow probably and see if I get anywhere.....

[paulrockliffe]

Actually, the battery loses it's charge because it's knackered, but I've been charging it up regularly and it's been fully charged every time I've tried to sort this problem. I don't know much about batteries, could it be not holding much charge even when fully charged now? I'll try and jump start him later I think.....

[fikus01]

batteries decide not to hold charge once they are knackered. how old is the battery?? over 2 - 3 years and i would assume its good for replacement. if its garanteed for 4 years and its failed take it back to where it came from.

[Roo]

batteries decide not to hold charge once they are knackered. how old is the battery?? over 2 - 3 years and i would assume its good for replacement. if its garanteed for 4 years and its failed take it back to where it came from.

I agree. Or there is a dead cell in the battery. My battery was only put in in septemeber so this is what i'm hoping for on mine cause if my new battery that i bought on the weekend loses charge, i have an alternator problem.

Edited by Roo, 04 January 2007 - 08:51 AM.

[paulrockliffe]

I tried to jump-start him yesterday, no joy, so it doesn't look like it can be the battery........

[paulrockliffe]

I'm testing the battery this afternoon, while I do some work. I've taken it out of the car and it's pulling 12.45 volts, but my ammeter isn't giving a reading - is there a way to test the max amps it will kick out?

I've noticed that since I've had this starting fault the battery is holding charge a lot better than it used to, needing a charge every 10 days or so before my baby stopped starting, now it seems to be holding charge a lot better and doesn't take anywhere near as long to charge to max.

Is there a possible link between something draining my battery and the starter motor suddenly not turning over?

[paulrockliffe]

charged battery is 13.6 volts.

Can someone tell me what the bit of rope-like stuff that comes out of the starter motor and heads in the direction of the solenoid is? it doesn't seem to be an electrical connector.

Also, I've a spare spade connector on the back of the starter motor - has a wire fallen off?

Thanks

[paulrockliffe]

I've just tested the voltage difference between each of the wires that run into the solenoid and the engine earth strap.

With the ignition on I get 12.6 volts at the positive feed and nothing at any of the other connectors.

With the ignition on and the starter button pressed I get exactly the same result

Is this all correct?

The haynes manual shows two spade connectors running into the solenoid, but I only have one; is this a problem? I can't find a wire thats fallen off anywhere and it did workk once upon a time.

[Retro_10s]

you'll have to excuse me for not reading the whole thread mate, Is the coil ok?