starter motor

[d780matt]

Has anyone herd of a starter motor failing with in 3 days?

Recently fitted a new one and van started fine seamed i had fixed the fault,
got in it last nite and there was a pause before it started, bit strange i thought, then this morning nothing!!
(just clicking)

my mechanical knowledge is not great but surly a starter motor wont fail with in 3 days???

any ideas welcomed

p.s ive checked and cleaned all the connections to starter motor, battery and ignition coil.

[ermie571]

have you checked the power in the battery???

have you got a charger you can stick in on over night to see if boosting the battery helps??

Em
xx

[CovKid]

May just be the supply to the solenoid has come adrift or barely connecting. As first check, shimmy underneath and check starter cable connectors, particularly the push-on one.

[d780matt]

Thanks guys but tried both of those.
im thinking something must be killing the starter motor. IE some sort of electrical fault, i have checked fuses e.t.c they all seam fine.

[milky]

clean the joining faces of the starter to the bellhousing,check earth strap ,cross the starter motor terminals with a screwdriver it should spin over if the battery is ok,i ran a second earth from the starter to the battery earth just in case,

[Bert2]

Hi
I agree with milky

First check with a screw driver as described or as I explained in a previous thread get a length of wire with a female spade crimped on the end (the length of wire will depend on where your battery is) the starter will have a spare terminal next to the solenoid terminal they are connected together, fit female terminal to the free spade terminal then touch the positive battery terminal with the free end the engine should spin over. if it does not then get a jump lead connect it to the engine earth point or if you a battery in the engine bay to the negative terminal and hold it against the alloy casing of the starter you might need a friend to do this, then touch the positive again with the wire connected to the solenoid terminal this will discount any poor connections. I had a very similar problem bought a brand new starter fitted it and when I turned the key just a click. thought it was a duff battery so got a new one and still it started some times but click others, it turned out to be the ignition key switch. I have fitted a relay into the start circuit and now it never fails to start.

[Ian Hulley]

'New' or reconditioned ? Some recons will be bench tested once and if found to be ok anyway (i.e. had an intermittant fault) will be wirebrushed, painted and sold out again. Never had a problem with Lucas recons but some 'Cargo' ones can be either over-painted (giving a poor earth) or only half checked.

Often the fault's the signal wire (the thin wire with the 6mm spade terminal).

Ian