Won't start and power cut

[Andyman]

Went to start the car at dusk, turned the key and all i got was a clicking noise, wouldnt turn over.
Had a look under the bonnet and got someone to start it and the clicking noise is coming from the relay box and starter motor. Im sure on two occassions there was some sparks on the lines of something shorting from the relay area but it just might have been my eyes seeing things lol

Unfortunatly it started to pee it down and turned dark so thats as far as iv got.

I noticed the time had gone to zero so for some reason there looks to have been a power cut of some kind.

Battery seems fine, all the power stuff works, wipers light etc, no immobiliser light flashing and the keys fine, tried the spare.


Anyone any ideas? Kind of thinking on the lines of a relay problem


Cheers

 

[caister]

Has the lead come off the starter motor

 

[Russ_16v]

Id lay a bet the batterys fooked mate.

Mine did that, everything reset, but things still worked untill i tried starting it.

Easy way of checking is turn the lights on, then try to crank it, if the battery is fine the lights will either not dim, or dim very dlightly, if the battery is duff your lights will go really dim

 

[LeeP86]

batteries flat mate

 

[Andyman]

I'll have a look at the battery first cheers.

Strange how there must have been a cut in the feed tho especially if everything else seems to work electric wise. I tried the lights and they were fine although that wasnt cranking it over.

 

[Russ_16v]

Batterys can be funny things mate, mine worked fine 1 min, but literally 2 mins later it was dead, not even dash lights!

 

[Andyman]

Replaced the battery and no change.

Gave the starter a crack and rocked the car in gear and nothing either.


Any other suggestions? It was fine when i got it out on the morning, by evening it was dead :S

 

[Russ_16v]

Hmm, does the engine turn over mate? Can you push it in gear and get it to turn over?

 

[sideways danny]

chack the earth strap from the subframe to the gearbox

 

[Andyman]

Nah Russ it wont turn over at all. I'll have a look at that now Danny

 

[Russ_16v]

If you put it in gear and push it does the engine turn over? Its not siezed i hope

 

[Andyman]

As in jump starting Russ? I havent tried yet but hoping to Sunday.

Started to pee it down so never managed to check the earth strap or anything else

 

[thechief]

Hi mate stick a jump lead from the battery -ve and the other side onto the gearbox then try starting it.

 

[Russ_16v]

As in jump starting Russ? I havent tried yet but hoping to Sunday.

Started to pee it down so never managed to check the earth strap or anything else

No matey, as in try to push it in gear, i cant see any reason why the engine would be siezed but just checking!

 

[Andyman]

^^Yeah i tried that but no luck matey

Hi mate stick a jump lead from the battery -ve and the other side onto the gearbox then try starting it.

I see what you mean there although might be better direct to chassis?

 

[Russ_16v]

So it does turn over mate? What i mean is if you bump started it, the engine would physically turn over, whether it starts or not?

Its gotta be an earth problem, there is an earth strap down by the n/s/f wheel mine worked loose once, worth checking it

 

[Andyman]

All sorted. Turned out to be a dirty earth contact between the battery tray and chassis.

Must have disturbed it when fitting the engine mounts a few weeks back. Ran for roughly 500 miles without probs up to this so strange how these things just happen lol

Cheers for the help folks

 

[Russ_16v]

Glad you got it sorted matey

 

[Andyman]

Thanks Russ