Dead starter motor?

[stocky]

Went to start my car the other night, and all I got was one click from the starter motor. As I was doing it, the voltage dropped to 10V from 12/13. I roll started it and drove home and left it for the night. Went out in the morning to start it, and it fires up first go without a problem, so I turn it off. I go to start it again later on in the day and the starter just clicks once again. Is this caused by a dead starter motor or something else? Its not a dead battery because my alarm would be going nuts if it lost power

[westbad]

i would test the battery and charging system to be sure before you spend $$ on a new starter, The Alarm system wont draw half as much power as the starter will.
Hopefully it will be something simple and cheap to fix, good job you got manual lol

[stocky]

i doubt the charging system is the problem. its not really low on voltage, as it is just a single click sound, not a struggle to start. the way the voltage drops 2-3V but does nothing must mean something. im not sure how a starters wiring works exactly

[hako]

You may have a dead short in the starter motor....possibly one of the commutater segments is shorting to earth - this will cause the battery volts to drop as you describe. Then when you roll start it, the vibration etc may alter the position of the commutater so it's not shorting and it will start next time. Or, it could be a loose cable to the starter which shorts out sometimes.
Battery terminals may also be loose/dirty, this can also cause the volts to drop.
Good Luck.

[Shaundy]

Get under the car and have a look at the wires that go to the starter solenoid. If they are loose and the nut that holds them in place is tight, don't try to tighten it as breakages will occur. I had a similar trouble with my VS where it would crank over slo-o-o-wly as if it was way down on power. I too considered a new battery, particularly when it wouldn't start right in front of the local ford dealer... Anyways, new solenoid and the problem was fixed!

[stocky]

hmm ive been told you cant replace these solenoids, but have to replace the whole starter?

[stocky]

ok so i tried to start it again. just clicked once as expected, so i took off the wires for the starter motor. cleaned them up a bit, put some electrical tape around the end on once where some wires were a bit exposed, and tightened them all up. it started up right away, so im not sure if there was a loose wire, or if the starter is still playing up and just decided to start this one time

[tk55]

my wife's vs has the slow cranking problem too. one time it completely won't start and the mechanic found a loose grounding wire. it has been starting since but still has this slow cranking problem.

i was thinking about taking it to the auto electrician but my wife didn't want to spend the money since it still starts up every time. it's been more than a year since

[stocky]

update. it started that one time i mentioned, but hasnt started again. once again, after it started, i turned it off, left it for a few hours, and it wouldnt start again. think ill just get another starter motor for it

[levymetal]

i reckon it sounds like the solenoid, next time it doesn't start give the solenoid a knock with a hammer or something and try and start it again. you can replace the solenoid by itself but i have no idea where you'd get one

[stocky]

i thought you couldnt replace the solenoid, and you had to swap the whole thing?

[levymetal]

when i had problems with my slow cranking (still kinda have this problem but gave up on it), someone said solenoid and airstrike said he replaced his. unless the vr one is different?

here's my thread anyway: 5ltr won't crank when hot

also in the gregories it explains how to dismantle the starter and taking the solenoid off is the first part in actually dismantling so i'm pretty sure you can just replace that.

[hako]

also in the gregories it explains how to dismantle the starter and taking the solenoid off is the first part in actually dismantling so i'm pretty sure you can just replace that.

If you are really keen, you can then dismantle the solenoid and dress the contact points that causes this problem. You need a decent soldering iron as well but it is possible.

[stocky]

hmm might remove it tomorrow and have a look. see if its repairable. otherwise ill just get another starter

[stocky]

ok well i just fit a new starter motor and the problem remains. single click noise, voltage drops 2-3V with key turned. what else could it be?

[NeilB]

I know you have probably done this but have you removed and cleaned the Battery terminals also the inside of your terminals on the leads, also if you get it going put a voltage meter across the battery terminals, just sounds battery ish to me.
I would check your battery voltage when you stop the car.

[stocky]

yeah i just went to clean the battery terminals. it did nothing. so i swapped batteries with my VN. it tried to start, but it was really weak and had no chance of kicking over, but at least it wasnt a single click. after tha, i put the original VR batter back in and it started up, so im not sure whats going on. im thinking the battery is dying. is there a difference between v6 and v8 batteries? as the battery in my vr originally came out of my VN V6 which is 2.5 years old

[macka75]

im having the exact same problem. just getting a single click from it. tried hooking up jump cables no luck ( maybe caused by the pissy car i used to jump it). ran a spare jump cable directy from my battery to starter, crossed terminals on started and it wound over slowly, the cable i used was a cheap thin one (kmart) my thick ones wouldnt fit under there, and it might not have carried enough current. think i have a starter cable problem.

[NeilB]

I think you need at least 10 volts to get enough power to kick things over. I know that when a V8 gets below 10 Volts they will stall as the injector pulse is to weak. I would see if you can do a battery swap with someone just to try it.

[Brett_jjj]

Try swapping the "start" relay with another relay,like the horn relay.These relays are under the bonnet near the fuses etc.

[westbad]

did you test your battery and charging system as i suggested before buying a new starter??

Doesnt take long to figure out if you have a charging fault with a multimeter and it doesnt cost anything ;-)

Also have you tried putting power direct to the starter with a jump lead and earthing it out so it kicks the starter over..?

[dirt drifter]

if a new starter and cleaning the terminals didn't fix it, maybe some new battery leads might be worth a try, and make sure it has a good engine to chassis earth while you're at it