Weird starting issue. Any Ideas welcome :)

[Bewesy]

Hi,

Firstly apologies for the monster post but I have got a strange issue that I‘m struggling to get to the bottom of with regards to starting and I‘m pulling my hair out to what it could be. Have trawled through many threads and think I‘ve exhausted my options.

Monday morn (cold) DC5 didn‘t start. Dash lights fine. No starter clicks. No dimming lights. Relays clicking under dash. Just nothing at all from the starter.

Came home from work Monday eve. Starts fine. No issues at all. No slow turn over. Perfect.

Tuesday (not cold) starts fine.

Wednesday morn (cold) didn‘t start. Wednesday eve didn‘t start. Bumped it off down the drive. Perfect. Started every single time. (tried literally 25 times)

Thursday was fine. Friday it started after about 10 attempts.

This morning (not cold) didn‘t start.

So far I‘ve tried:

Drop tested the battery (which was new last year) which is fine. (87% health and 273 CCA) Also when it does fire up it turns over fine and is not lethargic at all.

Checked battery terminals clean and tight.

Briefly poked around the immobiliser connections.

Today I‘ve had the inlet manifold off to get starter off. (Shyte job) Checked the starter solenoid and cog were clean and free from dirt. All parts moved freely and all looked ok.

I jumped the starter power wire and the start wire and it fired every time. Then tested with the key and it didn‘t.

Put it all back together. Wouldn‘t start.

Put tools away. Tried again and it started.

Turned it off and back on and no start.

Bumped it off down the drive and worked ok so started it over and over again about 20 times and it works.

It appears to be an electrical issue pre starter but I‘m not sure where I need to be looking. When I press the start button I can here a relay under the dash click. The clutch switch works as I can here that clicking and the relays don‘t click when it‘s not pressed.

Is there any other fuse/relays/connections I could be missing as I‘ve run out of ideas

Thanks in advance

 

[MissMyDC2]

Have you tried giving the starter a tap with a fine adjusting tool when it fails to start?

 

[Bewesy]

Have you tried giving the starter a tap with a fine adjusting tool when it fails to start?

Ha, yep , tried that.

Tried wiggling every wire I could get my hands on whilst the Mrs had the start button pressed in case there was a dodgy connection.

I‘m almost at the point of just buying a new starter and battery cos I‘m running out of ideas.

 

[SamDC5]

Have you checked what voltage the battery is outputting when the car is running?

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[Bewesy]

Yep. That was my first test

12.6 when off. 14+ when idling.

Gonna work my way through starter circuit tomorrow.

 

[Altecians]

Sounds like its the starter. I had mine work intermittently until one day it just gave up.

 

[SamDC5]

Sounds like the starter motor to me too.

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[Bewesy]

Yeah it does to me too. Just seems weird as it appeared to function fine when I was testing it today.

Worth buying new or reconditioned?

 

[Altecians]

Yeah it does to me too. Just seems weird as it appeared to function fine when I was testing it today.

Worth buying new or reconditioned?

Up to you and your budget, although I'd imagine reconditioned starters would be more difficult to find compared to more commonly reconditioned items like alternators.
I needed one in a hurry at the time and ended up with a blueprint k24 starter :xredface:... I ended up having to flip the component on top of the starter which connects to the cable in order to make the cable reach.
Just be careful of making that mistake if you are picking up a blueprint.

 

[Bewesy]

Thanks for the info, I‘ll bear that in mind.

My next plan is this:

I reckon if I reach up from the bottom I can get to the solenoid power wire connection. I‘m going to join another wire on it (as I should have done when I had it in bits).

That way If it doesn‘t start and there‘s no power to the solenoid wire I can start it by connecting the wire to the battery and I need to look elsewhere.

If there is power there I know it‘s definitely the starter causing the issue.

 

[Altecians]

Thanks for the info, I‘ll bear that in mind.

My next plan is this:

I reckon if I reach up from the bottom I can get to the solenoid power wire connection. I‘m going to join another wire on it (as I should have done when I had it in bits).

That way If it doesn‘t start and there‘s no power to the solenoid wire I can start it by connecting the wire to the battery and I need to look elsewhere.

If there is power there I know it‘s definitely the starter causing the issue.

Sounds like a plan, although if you are correct and it is an issue with the connection, it would certainly be a rare issue.
My money is on the starter as its probably the original thats been on the car for 10+ years.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Bewesy]

Sounds like a plan, although if you are correct and it is an issue with the connection, it would certainly be a rare issue.
My money is on the starter as its probably the original thats been on the car for 10+ years.

Let us know how you get on.

It‘s not the actual connection I‘m testing, it‘s determining if it‘s the starter solenoid or the wiring leading up to it that‘s the problem.

Managed to get the exciter wire off the solenoid this aft from below but I‘m about 5mm off being able to plug a new connector back on. Right at absolute contorted finger tip stretch with either hand to point of not being able to push the connector on properly. So close.

So is another inlet manifold off to sort that so for the sake of £100 I‘m just gonna stick a new starter on it whilst it‘s in bits cos I can‘t be bothered messing with it anymore. Hopefully that‘s the issue as suspected.

 

[Fez]

I've had a starting issue recently too, my mate found water ingress on the my battery/starter wire connection.

Could be worth checking the wires for anything obvious.. even though i missed this when i was looking for the fault 😅

 

[Bewesy]

I've had a starting issue recently too, my mate found water ingress on the my battery/starter wire connection.

Could be worth checking the wires for anything obvious.. even though i missed this when i was looking for the fault 😅

Cheers. What were your symptoms incidentally?

 

[SamDC5]

Have you checked you're getting a stable voltage at the starter motor?

 

[Bewesy]

Have you checked you're getting a stable voltage at the starter motor?

That‘s what my extra wire was going to be for. (which I should have installed when I had it in buy originally.)

So I need to get inlet off again to get to it so I‘m going to just stick a new starter on it. It‘ll either fix my prob or highlight another issue

 

[SamDC5]

Fair enough mate, hope you get it sorted.

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[Devapage]

100% starter issue mine did same until it just quit totally


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[Bewesy]

Thanks guys

Will be replacing the starter on Saturday so see what happens after that....

 

[Bewesy]

Well it appears the new starter has fixed the problem, although initially it did the same thing not starting. It‘s been fine all day yesterday and started fine in the cold this morning and all day today so fingers crossed that‘s the end of the woes.

Also taking the inlet manifold off for the second time is a piece of cake as you know exactly what combination of socket extensions are required in what area

Thanks to all the suggestions and advice.