2002 Clio 1.2 16v starter motor issue

[Frosty]

Hi everyone, a very old member signing back in for some help (sold my 172 Cup in 2005).

My Mrs has a Clio and it's developed a strange starter motor issue. You turn the key and I just hear a click, but no starter motor sound follows. After 3 or 4 goes, it starts normally and everything is fine. It doesn't struggle, so I'm sure all power and earth connections are fine, as is the battery.

I have checked the battery and it's fully charged, the starter motor is brand new, the engine earth strap looks in good condition, but I have rubbed the connecting points down with sand paper to make sure, the starter power feed has been cleaned too, and I have checked the 12v starter signal feed which comes from the key barrel, and that gives 12.4v (battery gives 12.8v).

I wobbled the key whilst checking the starter signal to check it wasn't a poor connection in the barrel, and it gave constant voltage.

The only things I can think of are perhaps a failing starter relay, or maybe the starter signal wire has a break in it which causes it to be intermittent.

Does anyone have any other suggestions on anything else to try? Also could anyone tell me which relay the starter motor relay is?

 

[RenMatt]

Common problem is the spade terminal on the end of starter signal lead . Replace with a new spade terminal should sort it out , or other test for engine earth by connecting a jump lead to battery negative terminal then connect the other end to the engine or gearbox casing

 

[Frosty]

Common problem is the spade terminal on the end of starter signal lead . Replace with a new spade terminal should sort it out , or other test for engine earth by connecting a jump lead to battery negative terminal then connect the other end to the engine or gearbox casing

Good idea. That spade terminal tested ok with a multimeter, but it costs nothing to replace so I'll do that tomorrow.

 

[Ben..]

Connector is easy enough to replace, good clean with a bit of sandpaper will be a temporary fix (turned out to be a long term fix for me!)

 

[Frosty]

Update:

I tried a new spade connector on the starter signal wire, and it hasn't made any difference. 4 out of 5 starts are perfect, but then all of a sudden, the old problem is back. When I turn the key, and I just hear a loud click, and then nothing. If I try again, I may here the click a few more times, but then eventually the starter motor will fire up properly and the car will start perfectly.

So I have so far:

* checked the battery - 12.8v
* Checked and cleaned the earth strap between the engine and the chassis
* Changed the starter motor
* Cleaned the main power feed to the starter
* changed the starter signal spade connector.
* checked for a loose connection around the key barrel by wiggling the key and checking voltage at the spade terminal.


The only thing I haven't tried is the starter relay because I don't know where it is. I'm starting to wonder if the new starter is faulty, but this would be very unlikely wouldn't it?

 

[RenMatt]

Is it a new starter or a recon unit ? have had allot of trouble with recon starters , starter relay is under the engine fuse box besides the battery small black and in a row of 2or 3 depending on model . Still could be the battery earth lead as on the later model 04 on they cured the problem with a twin lead that also had a wire direct from the battery to the gearbox .

 

[jackfm]

You possibly need to replace the flywheel motion sensor. Caused almost these exact symptoms on both my misses' and my 1.2 16vs. It got to a point where neither of us could rely on our cars starting. We just hoped for the best when we turned the key. Replaced flywheel motion sensor and the problem was solved. Apparently it comes up as a fault code with the proper diagnostic gear. This was before I really got my hands dirty on cars so it was all done by a garage.

 

[Frosty]

Thanks for all your help so far everyone. I'll swap over the starter relay and see if that fixes anything. If that doesn't work then I'll run a full diagnostic on the car and see if any error codes are present.