Clicking starter fixed

[pugdamo 111 2 Cars]

Iv had the usual clicking starter issue for a while and I was planning on doing the relay mod as described on the forum, but last weekend I decided to try and find the actual cause,I'm not sure if this has been covered on the forum but I couldn't find it if it has. Hopefully this can help someone. I traced it to the ignition switch, I removed the ignition switch, removed the 2 screws from the back of it and took out the switch part, I stripped this down (do this somewhere that you won't lose any of the internal parts, there's a V shaped contact and a spring) , the contacts inside were very black, quick clean up with some emery tape of all the contacts. Now the fiddly bit was re assembling, I slid the cap of the switch onto a screwdriver then fitted the spring and V shaped contact onto the switch, held these in place with the screwdriver tip then slid the cap into place, once its all clicked back together fit the switch back into the igniting barrel and re fit to the car and hopefully enjoy a click free starter motor.

[Daxed 7]

That's interesting cheers. How has it been so far, problem solved? 

Can you point me towards the relay mod you mentioned? 

Did you get any photos of the strip & clean? 

 

[pugdamo 111 2 Cars]

The relay mod is described in here 

 

 

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures because to be honest I didn't think it was something I would be able to fix just by cleaning it up, I thought it would end up in pieces and not able to get back together then I'd have to buy a new one lol.

Yeah Iv been using it for 3 days and has been spot on, at best my car would always click then a split second later start cranking if you kept the key held, and at worst it would take five or six clicks before it went and so far it's been instant everytime. 

If you can get the barrel out stripping it is a little fiddly but not too difficult. 

[Daxed 7]

Lovely, thanks for that. That is an exact description of my issue.

[Daxed 7]

Is there anything strange on a GTI-6 installation (such as the SAD issue referred to on the relay mod threads) to catch me out on can I go with the simplest relay mod install without worry? 

[Tom Fenton 1,524]

This "relay mod" is a bit of a bodge to be honest. Find the high resistance in the wiring to the starter and repair it is a better solution.

[Daxed 7]

OK cheers, i'll clean the barrel and reassess.

[Daxed 7]

What's the next phase in the strip-down to clean, my tired old eyes can't see how to dismantle.

[Telf 222 2 Cars]

its probably not the barrel, id be checking the contacts at the brown multi plug under the AFM, and the actual spade connection at the starter motor, brown plug is notorious for corrosion and the connection at the starter are often in poor state.

 

corrosion produces high resistance leading to a voltage drop before the starter which its sensitive to, without the correct voltage the solenoid wont engage and your starter clicks.

 

you can prove this yourself by taking a jumper cable straight from the battery positive to the starter- it will almost definitely cure your problem. its well documented on the forum as many of us have asked the question at some point.

[Tom Fenton 1,524]

Can’t totally agree with that, there are a lot of connections through the starter circuit and it can be any of them at fault. From the starter working backwards, spade onto starter, brown plug in engine bay, brown plug inside car near steering column, it then goes across and a plug into the fuse board, another plug coming back out of the fuse board, then it runs back across behind the dash to another plug that is up on the a pillar area drivers side, then the ignition barrel itself.

Any of those connections can be high resistance or a number of them! So it’s worth working through them all checking for voltage drop across each connection.

[Telf 222 2 Cars]

Yeah Tom that's all true but the connections in the engine bay are the most suspect hence why I said check them first. Can't argue with what your saying though. 

[Daxed 7]

Cheers for the info guys, will track through next weekend. 

[dcc 855]

i've come across cars with poor earth between engine and battery causing a large portion of starting issues. The earth connection is there but often heavily corroded under the sheath and on the lug bolted to the box. a bit of sand paper to clean up the contact patch helps a lot. the other major cause i've found is the wiring plug on top of the gearbox, which gets corroded over the years due to its location. The under dash multi plugs are a good place to run a clean wire from (apart from early phase 1).

 

personally i've not come across an issue with the ignition barrel myself, though some people have

Edited November 12, 2018 by dcc

[keeperlit 4 1 Cars]

Just adding to this post for future reference and searches.

 

I've been having starting issues, and after changing the motor a couple of times (for used units), battery I thought I'd start poking around with the multimeter. My car is GTi6 engined so the engine bay connectors are weather sealed and from the newer car.

 

I originally suspected the alarm, but it turns out the biggest voltage drop  (measured with the starter solenoid active) was at the fuse box, at just over 2 volts. I didn't see a big voltage drop at the key, but I suspect the contacts on mine are clean as you need to twist the key 100 times to get it to start

 

Even with the fuse box connection (blue to beige wire) bridged at the connectors, I still have intermittent problems. Could be other sources of resistance like the key, or even just a worn solenoid. It does start most of the time now though