The car is a 1997 Mondeo 2.0 GLX 16v automatic estate. It won?t start intermittently. Usually you can hear the starter motor solenoid click, but the starter motor doesn?t turn. The lights don?t dim, suggesting the starter motor?s contacts aren?t contacting.
Every time this has happened, it has started eventually, for no apparent reason, after about 10 minutes and numerous attempts. It generally happens when the car is cold, but not invariably. The car is mostly used for two, 10 or 15 minute runs in the morning and evening.
The prime suspect is the starter motor?s solenoid or contacts. The battery (at least 2 years old) seems to be well charged; it operates the electric windows for example, with no sign of the sluggishness you might expect of a defective battery. The voltage starts at 12.6V, drops to about 12.2V on switching on the ignition and drops to 10.6V when turning the engine over; the intermittent fault vanishes as soon as you get the multi-meter out, of course.
A colleague had a similar problem with a Mk2 Golf automatic, which would fail to re-start when it was hot. The fault was cured by fitting a relay. I think that there was too much voltage drop through the gearbox interlock circuit, so that there was insufficient voltage to operate the solenoid. He only found that this was a known defect after changing the starter motors, batteries, gearbox switches, etc. on 2 cars. I'm a little reluctant to rush in and change the starter motor, because I'm not entirely convinced that this is the problem.
Does anyone have any previous experience of this problem? Am I doomed to spend Sunday changing the starter motor? Are Halford?s starter motors any good? Can you find out if all the recall modifications have been carried out work on a Ford Mondeo?
Should I call the RAC? ;-)All contributions gratefully accepted.
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Doesn't the auto Mondeo have interlocks all over the shop? So you can't take the key out unless it's in "Park", you can't take the gear lever out of "Park" without your foot on the brake, etc.
It would be worth giving related to the interlocks a good wiggle first, to see if you find an easy cure. Maybe try playing with the multimeter to see if any sensors are giving a duff signal?
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I had a similar intermittent fault with my sierra, after charging the battery which did not help and calling the AA, when the starter motor worked perfectly, I eventually traced it to a loose connection on the starter solenoid. After some spannerwork, its been fine ever since. Hope this helps.
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Likewise on my son's diesel Clio. The starter motor clicked but wouldn't engage. We tried it with the headlights on and they didn't dim to any extent so we knew the battery was fine. We then found that the glowplugs weren't working either though everything else was OK. We eventually traced the fault to a poor earth connection on the engine. (I seem to remember reading that the Ford Focus was prone to this same problem?)
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My old 95 Mondeo 1.8 lx had the same problem when I first bought it at 2 year old with 32000 miles on it. It was a duff starter motor. This was apparently a common fault on the early mondeos, supposedly fixed by the time year 97 models came out. A new starter cured it (under warranty), but changing the starter would disturb the connections to it so it might be worth cleaning and tightening them before removing the starter.
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First, thanks to all who offered their suggestions.
I took the plastic under-body shield off the underside of the engine bay, with the intention of changing the starter motor. After crawling under the car, I realized that it was a thoroughly unpleasant job, the starter is on the back of the engine and concealed by the inlet manifold. 'Inaccessible' would be an euphemism, it's invisible.
I didn't have the time to get the starter motor out, so I just re-charged the battery, which seems to hold a charge and seemed to need one (started at 3A, droped to <1A after a couple of hours). I also cleaned up the terminals and the terminal clamps, which had looked to be in good condition, no corrosion and a coating of a light-brown grease over them.
The following morning, the car just clicked, as usual, but by the time I'd got downstairs, it had decided to start. Since then (3 to 4 weeks ago) there has been no recurrence of the problem. I'm not convinced that I've permanently solved the problem but, so far, it's gone away. It was probably the short runs that had discharged the battery.
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Mine used to "go away" for weeks sometimes and when ever the dealer took the car in they could not find the fault. but I managed to make it happen. It ALWAYS happened if I left the car standing for longer than just overnight, approx 14 hours between coming home from work and going the next morning. e.g. If I didn't use the car at all on Saturday (after coming home Friday night) then Sunday morning it would not start at first.
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My 1.6 Sierra has the same problem. No click even from the starter, I've changed the solenoid. Battery is fine, and its not the alarm (yes, worryingly enough there is an alarm on my 13 year old sierra).
Next to check - earthing connections, battery with plenty of charge but low voltage - any more ideas?
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battery with plenty of charge but low voltage - any more ideas?
If low voltage, how can it have plenty of charge? That's like saying my watering can is empty but I can still water the garden with it!!!
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