Starter motor question..
Occasionally my 280ge fails to engage the starter motor - just clicks (no pattern fine for ten starts then 3 fails in a row). :?:
What I have noticed is that is more likely to engage and turn the motor once the fuel pump has pressurised - this make sense as more ampage available to starter??
But, once it clicks if I try again straight away it will just click. Now the interesting bit, if i remove the key and then try again 90% it is fine???
Is there some sort of safety cut off or something???
Hello w4hsa,
You might have a high resistance problem or a starter solenoid problem.
Check both your battery terminals are clean and not oxidised, clean and apply some Vasaline gel on the terminal posts and refit. Ensure the battery reads over 11.5v voltage during cranking (when it does) or get access to a heavy-duty drain tester. With the tester, check only, after the battery is fully charged up. Should you get a reading below 11.5 volts, it is time to change your battery.
Check your earth connections are clean, from the battery to body, and the earth wire from body to engine/gearbox or it will be routed from body to chassis frame, and finally from c/frame to engine/gearbox.
If your vehicle or your starter motor has done around 70,000 miles it might be quicker to change them for either a new or reconditioned one unless a local starter motor and alternator place will recondition yours, if not held in stock. Do check out the alternator charge rate as well, if this is or has been undercharging, it would eventually kept the battery constantly undercharged.
Very rarely will the ignition key or switch will be at fault.
Good luck,
Im starting to to have the same problem, got a new halfords top of the range battery last year, and had the starter replaced 8 months ago.
cant find the solenoid, or see it on the wiring diagram.
Does it having a manual button for stating?
THX
The solenoid is attached to the body of the starter..it can become burnt.loose or out of alignment causing intermittent problems like staying engaged. or not engaging.or just sticking..do not lube the solenoid with oil or grease.sroke the piston with a medium pencil lead to reduce friction.if you have a front end of g'box or rear crankshaft seal leak the oil will accumulate in the bell housing and eventually drown the starter..removing the fording bung in the bottom of the bell housing will stop the build up of oil but it will be messy on the driveway.....
If you have an auto the lock out switch can cause a problem - its attached to the transmission and can be shorted out to check for problems.
Check all the earthing and connections - also if you wire in a relay into the ignition switch you can save replacing if its weak and not passing enough current.
Try shorting out the solenoid cables ( cant remember which ones exactly) they are in a flip top black plastic connector on the drivers side inner wing on 280s. Should prove if the solenoid is the problem.
THX fixwin38, will remove the bung, park on gravel so mess not a problem, tried this last year before starter replacement and oil came out…will check solenoid piston and lube with pencil….
ErnestTBass, thank you, lock out switch problem could be cause, think putting foot on break pedal made a difference during one attempt. Will work back from battery cleaning all connections.
It is starting instantly now on first attempt since my post, but one thing I forgot to mention and could be significant for the last six months or so I noticed the dashboard charging light occasionally stayed on after starting until I blipped the throttle, so knew I had electrical problems looming, but it was very occasional, now it stays on after each start until the throttle is blipped….
engine idle should be 650/700rpm hot and 1100/1200rpm at cold start.the alternator light should be out at the 650rpm..the engine should rev up to 11.1200rpm automatically when hot for 4 to 6 seconds and then drop to the lower rev range..if this does not happen you have a problem with you cold start fuel management system.......
wow that was quick, THX Fixwin, engine is behaving correctly but light not going out, i will do a slow push on the accelerator and note the RPM it gos out at...
Have checked engine RPM on start up, cold, it started instantly and went 1200 for about a minute then went up to 1500, alternator light on all the time, istared to apply pressure to the gas peddle and light went out at 1600, went for a spin in the afternoon and again light will only go out at 1600...
up to a few months ago light went on startup ...
soz, that should be:up to a few months ago light went out at startup ...
Hi it should excite at lower rpm...check the output voltage it could be down a phase or have a dodgy regulator..by the way the idle rpm should drop to 700rpm after a minute not increase....
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