Starting Problems

[JohnP]

Hi all,

First post so Hello!

I've got a 1997 SR as a cheap runabout. It's been impressively reliable for a car with 115k miles and is old enough to vote in Scotland.

However it's recently developed a starting problem. It was intermittent but is becoming increasingly less so. The solenoid clonks as the starter motor engages but it won't turn the engine over. All the dash lights go out. It will bump start and I can hear the fuel pump so I don't think it's the immobiliser.

So far I have

- Charged the battery
- Cleaned the corrosion off the terminals.
- Replaced the starter motor with another from a scrapyard.

I'm thinking about trying to replace the positive and negative wires to the starter but I'd appreciate any ideas.

Thanks
John

 

[JohnP]

Post weekend update.

Tried to jump start the car off another - no change so I'm going to say the battery is okay.

I'm now assuming that the starter cables need replacing, but is there anything else I need to think about?

Cheers
John

 

[frank]

you could bypass the starter leads with jump cables john, 1 at a time to single out which one is arcing
from the batt - to the engine block, and from the batt + to the solenoid

 

[JohnP]

Fixed. After replacing the cables it turned out to be the ignition switch. Which I didn't check as the starter was engaging...

So the moral of the story is don't assume anything.

Thanks to Frank for his suggestion.