Hello,
just a quick note to see if anyone has an explanation for the following:
A friend's car has failed to start recently; it wouldn't turn over at all, the only effect being an audible clicking from the starter motor. However, when it did this at work yesterday he put it in 1st gear and rocked the car back and forth a few times by hand. Hey presto, it started!
Was wondering what may be the problem (sticking components?) and which components may be the first port to sort out the problem?
Edited by Pugugly on 02/10/2009 at 11:03
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Just make sure all the connections are tight, especially to the solonoid & starter motor, and that the starter motor itself isn't loose.
The starter motor may need a strip down & inspect!
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The starter motor pinion was jammed in the ring gear,rocking released it.Get a recon starter before the ring gear is damaged,not something you want to replace.
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Anybody who owned a Triumph 1300 with a bendix starter had to be familiar with that trick !
Edited by Pugugly on 02/10/2009 at 11:02
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A friend's car has failed to start recently; it wouldn't turn over at all the only effect being an audible clicking from the starter motor. However when it did this at work yesterday he put it in 1st gear and rocked the car back and forth a few times by hand. Hey presto it started!
I had an identical problem (and solution) many years ago on a Vauxhall Firenza. It was the starter solenoid sticking, and although the rocking start will cure it for a while it could happen again at any time. New solenoid was the solution.
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I should say that the car starts fine when used with a jump-pack- could the battery be on its way out too?
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Sounds like the battery is trashed, and not giving enough to the starter, which draws massive current.
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A similar effect can be had by using a hammer to strike the starter motor - it worked for my dad's Vauxhall Viva!
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A similar effect can be had by using a hammer to strike the starter motor - it worked for my dad's Vauxhall Viva!
That was exactly the required treatment for the solenoid on my Firenza. Maybe all Vauxhalls went better when hit with a hammer
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Maybe all Vauxhalls went better when hit with a hammer
My MkII Cavalier, too! Although I didn't use a hammer, but a Krooklok...
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My version involved a Citroen GSA and the thinnest spanner I could lay my hands on. There wasn't much swinging space due to the low location of the starter motor in the engine bay, so it was a work of true genius to actually connect with the thing with any force.
At least the dissolving petrol tank and knackered suspension meant the car had to be scrapped before I had to fork out for a new starter. Seems a shame now.
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>>My MkII Cavalier, too! Although I didn't use a hammer, but a Krooklok...
Weren't they mutually incompatible.
If it won't start, you hardly need a crooklock. ;>)
Edited by bathtub tom {p} on 02/10/2009 at 16:13
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Yep, that was the trick to start my Dad's Maxi as well.
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And my VW 411, for a while. A bit inconvenient lying beside it in the road in a Paris rush hour reaching round the rear wheel.
It didn't have to be a hammer, anything heavy would do, socket ratchet, wheelbrace, your passenger's airline pilot's Breitling sports watch, anything that weighed a pound or two and was hard...
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