VS Not starting?

[Bob129]

Hey all,
In the mornings when it is cold, i go to start my car, turn the key, ignition lights/radio etc. come on, but the car doesnt tick over..i turn it back to off, and back to start, and sumtimes it starts, other times i have to do this several times before it ticks over, and when it eventually does, it turns over pretty slowly. I had a look at the battery and sanded off all the sulphur(?) that was around the leads, could this have done it? or is it the starter motor? or even something else?
Any ideas would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Rob

 

[VS 5.0]

How old is the key ? Mine did the same thing. Got the new key....no worries.

There is a few threads about keys on here so give it a search.

 

[CHANDLC]

I had the same as well, got new key and all is good

 

[Avi8or]

Myn's doing the same thing and I found that I have to press unlock/jiggle the key a bit to make it start. Just have to get around to getting a new key, or taking my dads spare VY key and using that :yeah: ...

 

[hako]

Apart from what has been suggested about the key/head, your battery terminals sound like they were pretty bad. Cranking over slow can indicate a bad battery or dirty terminals. I'd remove the connector cables and scrape them clean and also clean the terminals then apply some vaseline or silicone grease to the terminals. If this makes no difference and you are sure the battery is good then the next thing is the starter motor. Good Luck.

 

[dcvinu]

that has helped me a bit myself as mine does that a bit but u tap the auto and it starts so i will try the key first and see how i go

 

[Bob129]

well, the key is fairly new, id say 6 months if that, i'll give the battery terminal another scraping and going over with vaseline....it just happened to me then when i went to move the car, and its cold outside...the coldness seems to be a fairly big contributing factor as when it is warm it works fine. Could the cold be affecting the starter motor/distributor? or would the colder air cause less flow of electricity from the battery?

 

[hako]

that has helped me a bit myself as mine does that a bit but u tap the auto and it starts so i will try the key first and see how i go

If it helps to tap the auto then that would indicate that the auto trans inhibitor switch is out of adjustment - this stops you activating the starter if not in D or N. Try holding the key to start and move the the auto selector from D to N and back again - if it fires then its the inhibitor switch adjustment.

 

[hako]

well, the key is fairly new, id say 6 months if that, i'll give the battery terminal another scraping and going over with vaseline....it just happened to me then when i went to move the car, and its cold outside...the coldness seems to be a fairly big contributing factor as when it is warm it works fine. Could the cold be affecting the starter motor/distributor? or would the colder air cause less flow of electricity from the battery?

Low temperatures mean the battery has reduced capacity to deliver maximum power plus the engine oil is cold and therefore thicker making the engine harder to turn over. In places where it gets really cold they have immersion heaters in the engine sump to keep the engine warm plus run a trickle charge to the battery to also keep that warm.
On top of your battery there should be a marking which indicates CCA (cold cranking amps) ...the higher the number the more power that can be delivered when cold. Cheaper batteries may have a CCA of 300 whilst better ones go to 800 or so.
Your observations seem pretty good.

 

[WiLo]

also could be the CAS