Car won't start

[mpower]

I had loose terminal on the starter itself causing this, try just cleaning that before whacking the solenoid.

 

[djdomohudson]

ur starter motor looks like this - Brand New Starter Motor HOLDEN Commodore VN VP VR VS VT VX VY V6 12V on eBay!

Thanks for that.

if you have volt meter gauges check out the volts coming from the battery aswell... just cause ur radio works doesnt mean the battery is dead.. it takes a certain amount of volts to start the car and not so much for the radio etc

That's what I thought previously. It will only take a little to power the radio but a lot of wattage to turn over and start the engine.

 

[mpower]

oh and on a different car I had a relay go that caused just a "click" in the engine bay (that was on a VTII Exec).

You need to load test a battery as starting is pretty much the only time the battery is actually used.

 

[djdomohudson]

In terms of testing the battery previously, we hooked up a car battery charger (one that you plug in to your house and charge in the driveway). The needle pointed to 0 (zero). After several hours, 12 nearly, the needle was still pointing to 0.

In terms of questioning the starter motor, I have had the car not start, jump it from another car, and it did start, and then have no problems for a few days or a week. On the other hand I could drive to the shops, get back to my car and find it won't start.

Sometimes I'll also move the gear shifter from P to 1 back to P and it started. This has all been happening in the last month or two...

 

[djdomohudson]

Having it checked out tomorrow arvo.
New starter motor on the way.

 

[djdomohudson]

Checked out the starter motor last night. It had a loose bolt so tightened it up but the car still wouldn't start. Although had some progress the engine was ticking over just not firing up. So now the fella is thinking the fuel pressure is maybe down. He tried hitting the fuel tank as I turned the key and it still didn't fire so he went away saying he'll have to bring back different tools and things to see what's up with the car.

I had a thought about low fuel pressure and mentioned that I'd only had my fuel pump changed in October but still when the car was low on petrol it would maybe misfire and not start up. So later on I went and filled up a jerry can and emptied it into my car. Started her up and it ticked over a lot but I pumped the accelerator and it fired away. Turned it off. Turned it back on again and started straight away. So... I'm really wondering what the heck is up with my car.

 

[uniacidz]

How much fuel was showing on the dial prior

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[djdomohudson]

It was about quarter I think. I can't remember now. The Jerry can was 20L, and now it's pointing to 3/4 full. It wasn't so empty at least that the fuel light come on...

 

[uniacidz]

Maybe misaligned pump not getting fuel from bottom of tank

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[djdomohudson]

You'd bloody think after having a "new fuel pump" — or so the receipt/invoice says — that I wouldn't have this problem after only 5 months! Bloody rip off. Glad I never been back to that dodgy shop honestly.