Club 80-90 Forums

Hi guys i could do with some help please.

My van 83 1.9 devon has been running like a dream until Wednesday when it just wouldn't start. All the normal lights come on but the starter motor wont tick over. Not even clicking. I checked the battery and this was only reading 10.5 volts so i charged it overnight and now reading a healthy 12.7 but still the same. I have tried giving the starter motor a technical tap, I have checked all the fuses and cleaned the connections but still the same. Then i have checked the voltage from the switching wire and i'm only getting 4.5v at the starter motor end which i assume is not enough to turn the motor over? Has anybody got any ideas please?
Thank you in advance.

Chris

have you checked your earths?
can you jump it from another vehicle?

You should have 14.4v at the battery. Its dropped a cell at 12.5v so time for a new one.

Sent from my Nokia N-gage

12.7V is fine for a fully charged battery after it's been settled off the charger for a while (14.4V would be a charging voltage). 4.5V at the solenoid could well be the problem, but it might just be that the starter itself is pulling the voltage down when the solenoid fires. I had a starter failure recently, and I think the problem was the oilite bush jamming the starter so it couldn't turn.

Does the body of your starter get hot during your starting attempts? If so it's possible that the solenoid is firing, the starter is trying to turn but is jamming and drawing lots of current, which is then pulling the solenoid voltage down.

No the body doesn't get hot and i disconnected the wire to test the voltage to check I was getting some voltage through. Just not sure weather 4.5v is enough to fire to solenoid. I will check all the earth points tomorrow as I had not thought of that.

I will try to jump the van as soon as I've found a battery donor. This might be a daft question but can I use the leisure battery to jump start it? I can't see why not?

varying schools of thought on this....is your leisure a deep cycle jobby - if so, i think its not good for them...but if its a start/leisure its ok. as I understand it anyway x

Not got a car that you can use...or a nice friend??

Em

Battery earth to chassis.
Gearbox nose earth to chassis.

must be super shiny

I checked all my connections and found a cable that had worn through and was touching the gearbox. Once I replaced this wire she is back to living the dream again.

Thanks for the advice guys.