No starting and no click

[Monkeyzak]

Hi

Came back from a weeks holiday. Car won't start. Not even a click

Any suggestions?

Ta

[stevie_a]

1. Put side lights on ---- Do they work ? of not ------- its the battery

2. Put side lights on -- try to start car do the lights go off? ------- its the battery

3. Put the radio on does it work ------ of not ------- its the battery


I think you get the point

If lights stay on and radio ok, small wire with spade connection at starter motor

[FI Spyder]

If your battery is good (just measuring voltage isn't enough hence procedures above), there are some critical connections I've found, sometimes they produce a click sometimes not depending on how bad the connection is.
Battery posts to clamps.
Said clamps to wire (especially were the clamps are clamped to the wire(s)).
Battery ground wire to ground.
Smaller red wire to starter.
Connection block to starter solenoid (the one by the fuse box).
\these are the most important ones (the ones that seem to cause most problems).

[Monkeyzak]

Sorted. Battery seemed ok but wasn't. All lights etc worked fine Left it on charge for 2 hours. Started. I think the old immobilizer is draining the battery

Thanks gents. I just want the car running right so i can use it now it's got an MOT.

I tore the exhaust back box off putting it in my garage so got it on my ramps and sorted it tonight.

So many jobs to tackle and i now realise I know so little,!!

[FI Spyder]

Typically what happens is one cell won't hold a charge (others will be soon to follow). When it is charged the battery will read 12V but when a load is put on it the suspect cell drops out and your voltage is less, that's why they test a battery under load not just put a voltmeter across the terminals. As the battery ages the lead plates sulfate out with pieces dropping off and landing in the well below. The less lead on the plate means less charge the battery can put out (cranking amps). When the well fills up, the cell will short out taking it out of the chemical process. The deeper the well at the bottom of the battery the longer it will take to do this. The more lead on the plates (the more cranking amps) the longer it takes for the lead compound to flake off to the point where there isn't much left to produce electricity. The better batteries have more lead and deeper wells.

[johnnyj]

I once had a Jaguar XJ-S which had an after-market immobiliser and alarm fitted. It had a remote key fob and everything! It was great until you left it for more than a couple of days, when it would drain the battery and give the symptoms you have described. From memory it would then go off at ear-splitting volume due to the voltage drop, thus alerting me and the neighbours to a fault that was caused by, er, itself.Binned.

My experience with after-market gadgets isn't great - I once bought a TR7 which had after-market cruise control fitted, which was fun on the post-purchase drive home. I wasn't expecting it and when I pulled over, having nearly run into the back of everything in front of me, I had to disconnect some weird cable arrangement to the carb throttle levers. Binned too.

I just wish someone had fitted an after-market anti-rust device to both of them...

John

[Tamas Petrunin]

My experience with after-market gadgets isn't great

I just wish someone had fitted an after-market anti-rust device to both of them...

But you say after-market gadgets don't work so surely a after-market anti-rust device wouldn't actually stop the car rusting in fact it would probably make it rust quicker

[Monkeyzak]

Went out to the car. Same again. Jump started it. Got it up on the ramps and found a stripy wire with a spade connector not connected to the starter. An earth? Anyway. Squeezed the connector and shoved it back on. It seems secure now. Thanks again for the advice. Hopefully that's the problem sorted.

[skertonman]

The black and white wire is the signal wire from the ignition switch which engages the starter solonoid.

[Monkeyzak]

I think it looks pink and black? After 40 years i don't look the same either. So not sure on the colour

[Monkeyzak]

Would that stop it starting?

[stevie_a]

As i had said

If lights stay on and radio ok, small wire with spade connection at starter motor

[Monkeyzak]

Stevie i had my tablet under the car reading your post as i was checking and fixing it!!!

[stevie_a]

[saabfast]

I had a similar case of intermittent non starting a few years ago and found that, although it looked OK externally the copper cable into the small spade connector had corroded to a dusty green. Remade the connection with a new spade and have not had the problem since.