jaiscossie

hi all, had a really strange problem with my impreza earlier.its a 1995 wrx import, i backed it out of the garage as normal, switched it off and went indoors. came back out 5 mins later and it wouldnt start,wasnt turning over at all but all lights etc worked fine. went back indoors for ten minutes then when i came back out it started fine. any ideas what this could be as dont want it to happen again and catch me out. thanks in advance

Roojai

probably sterter motor solenoid contacts. It is happening on mine and I have just purchased new contacts for £3 - i will find out the supplier if you want (it was ebay).

Do a search on starter motor and you should find a few similar cases. Don't waste your money on a new battery or anything like that yet. There is a great thread on 22b.com on how to diagnose it depending on your headlight recovery - how quickly they come back on after start attempt or if they go off at all.

scarey

read something once about automatic chokes flooding the engine if it's on for a very short time.

mart360

check your battery connections... they have some funny connectors, which can get furred up...

12v at the battery..... **** al at the starter motor under load...

and check all earths to and from battery / starter motor


Mart

mikepaul

Yes a common cause and th emost likely, simply turn ignition key and foot to the floor (ask any RAC or AA man; very very very common).

Tends to happen when owner backs car out of car, washes the car, and drives the car back into the garage.

No harm in checking battery and starter motor connections through.

Cheers Matie.

16vmarc

Not good practice to move a car a short distance then switch the engine off.

If you read the Telegraph Motoring paper on a saturday, Honest John says not to start a car just to move it down the drive.

scarey

is this the same honest john that a month a go advised a reader that he could buy a scoob from motorpoint without any concerns?

Roojai

he said the engine wouldn't turn over

jaiscossie

roojai could you find out for me who supplied you the starter motor contacts as mine is still playing up.cheers mate

Roojai

I fitted my new starter contacts over the weekend and I found that they were almost but not exactly the right part. one of the contacts was a slightly different shape. It was much worse afterwards so I found a secondhand starter motor for £30 on ebay, picked it up sunday morning, fitted when I got back (mucheasier just to change motor that fiddle with contacs, and now I have a car that starts every time.

I am not saying don't get the contacts, but just be sure they are the right ones, and it may just be easier to get another starter motor!

The item number is below. I have had a look at it again and i think it would be worth calling them. In my kit i got the two contacts that look like number 6 in the picture, but you need one like number 6 and one like number 3. Best to call them if you do order.

ebay item number: 4541339813

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

jaiscossie

cheers mare much appreciated. your car had same symptoms as mine then??? im 90% sure thats what it is now

Roojai

yes, its quite common it seems. I did a search here and on 22b.com and found quite a few similar cases.

There are other possible causes but the contacts is the most likely but also check the ground connection.

I found this post on 22b.com:
Thought of an easy test - put your lights on and turn the engine over - The lights should dim - if they don't stay dim whilst the ignition is on 'start', then no heavy current is being drawn - i.e. no load

I suspect that its this way anyhow, but it'll give a little more fact.

If you've a set of jumper leads, I'd try connecting the battery direct to the starter motor, just to see if it turns.


This is a bit basic, but I guess its an easy guide...

Here's a few more clues you can get by watching the headlights while trying to start your car:

Headlights begin white and bright, when you try to start the engine, nothing happens, no clink, no crank and the the headlights don't change or flicker one bit. This usually means the power sent from the key through the neutral safety switch to the starter solenoid is not getting there.

Headlights begin white and bright, when you try to start the engine, nothing happens, no clink, no crank and the the headlights do flicker a bit. This usually means the power is getting to the solenoid and it isn't passing the power on to the starter. That would mean the solenoid is bad.

Headlights begin white and bright, when you try to start the engine, they dim to nothing or almost nothing then SLOWLY come back up to white and bright. This usually means the battery is bad and incapable of handling a huge request for power to crank the engine over.

Headlights begin white and bright, when you try to start the engine, they dim to nothing or almost nothing then as soon as you let go of the key, the headlights QUICKLY bounce back to white and bright. This usually means the starter is bad, or the engine is locked up.


Also, if the battery is really knackered, the it'll just hold the current/voltage down when jump starting - might be better to do a battery swap - but try the 'lights' test first, to save a job

Hope some of this helps,

Mark

This is the thread:
http://bbs.22b.com/cgi-bin/ultimateb...=000591#000001