Starter Clicking And Battery Drain

[Guest darren1984]

Hi guys

Im new enough here,

I have a laser green 205 gti with an S16 2 litre lump in and a few small mods,

Lately When i go out in the morning the car wouldnt start and would just click,i thought it was down to a s*ite battery so replaced the battery but in the mornings it still does the same thing, pain in the arse,

So can anyone let me know what is draining the battery? if left for a few hours its fine but overnight it wont budge even with the new battery,

So im wondering could it be wiring to the solenoid and were abouts is the starter/solenoid located?

Thanks alot for listening and hopefully some of your advice can sort this as its very annoying

Cheers

Darren

[Jonmurgie 2]

It's not the battery, it's a fooked starter motor! It's just below the inlet manifold on the front of the engine, try hitting it with a hammer but as it douns like it's doing it alot time for a new one me thinks

[luggy 13]

If youve changed the battery for a new one, and youve know youve got no problems with the starter motor it would indicate that the alternator is faulty, discharging the battery. Could you get a hold of a known good one to see if it makes any difference?.

 

Luggy

Edited September 26, 2006 by luggy

[Guest darren1984]

thanks guys,

if its the altenator luggy if i disconnect the earth tonight it should fire up 2moro without a problem?.

[welshpug 1,622]

a poor connection to the solenoid can cause it to not work properly and jam like this, had it on my car with a brand new starter.

 

check the battery earths and the solenoid connections as well as the battery to starter main cable, and give the brown multiplug a clean/chop it off for some waterproof connectors.

 

I know loads of people whoi have diagnosed this as a faulty starter and replaced them numerous times, and since I had the same problem but had a fiddle with the wiring I think its all down to the wiring not the motor itself.

 

to give a good example, the 1.9 TD engine and the Mi16 in the 405 has pretty much the same starter motor but no crappy wiring plugs in the engine bay, and I've never heard of one fail.

 

have a play, maybe cut out the solenoid wire from the multiplug and put some ctimp connectors on temporary to see if that works, or even just hook it up with a jump lead.

Edited September 26, 2006 by welshpug

[pee vee 1]

Ive had a similar problem to this with mine recently,

i too thought it was starter motor or battery

(sounded like starter clicked but did nothing)

 

but its the immobilizer playing up ive recently discovered!!!!

 

So if you have the type of immobilizer where you have to plug a key

into it to dis-arm it, there is a possibility that its this..

[Dream Weaver 2]

Mine does this all the time, and I have to recharge the battery if I leave the car for a week.

 

Mine has new battery, good starter motor and i've replaced the entire wiring loom where the brown multiplug used to be with all new wires and connectors but it still does it.

 

However, if I connect the starter direct to the battery it fires up straight away, so it has to be something to do with the way the wiring is setup. I've been thinking about wiring the starter straight into its own switch, or a starter button as it gets annoying wondering if it will start - my old 405 Mi did the same as well!!.

[luggy 13]

if its the altenator luggy if i disconnect the earth tonight it should fire up 2moro without a problem?.

 

Try it Darren, process of elimination, if you go to try the car tomorrow and it fires then its the alterator, if not then its your starter/wiring to it, as some of the guys have already mentioned and your old battery is probably not knackered.

 

Luggy

[jim21070 2]

to give a good example, the 1.9 TD engine and the Mi16 in the 405 has pretty much the same starter motor but no crappy wiring plugs in the engine bay, and I've never heard of one fail.

 

I have. In my very own TD Xantia Changing a 205 GTi starter is a walk in the park compated to the same job on a Xantia

[Guest darren1984]

thanks alot guys

helps to know im not the only one..haha

Thanks again guys!!

Earth is disconnected now will see in the morning what happens

Cheers

Darren

[TonyGTI 0]

thanks alot guys

helps to know im not the only one..haha

Thanks again guys!!

Earth is disconnected now will see in the morning what happens

Cheers

Darren

 

Darren

 

I had a similar problem. Car would start on key no problem then would only get a click from the starter motor. Took starter motor off cleaned up earth connections had battery checked, replaced everything was fine for first few starts then same problem. Replaced starter motor again fine for few starts then same problem!!!

 

Was with a friend who was a mechanic, he looked over everything, then wiggled the cable to the starter motor and lo and behold it started. Turned out to be poor connection on the live clamp on battery copper wires inside had broken up and making poor connection, so every time I had disturbed it had improved connection but soon failed again. Had bought new starter motor to find this one out but its fine now!

 

Tony

[rocky 0]

Hi Guys,

 

My 205 Mi16 has a strange problem. Here goes:

 

I had a faulty alternator which overhcharged the battery causing it to lose lots of fluid (it was a new maintenance free battery).

I had the alternator reconditioned, and so the battery does not leak out fluid no more. However, when I am driving the battery will slowly lose power to the point where the engine will cut out and not start until jump leads are applied. (if I have the wipers on I can physcially see them slow down as battery loses power).

 

This problem only happens when engine is running. It starts first time. And i have a cat 1 alarm too.

 

My personal opinion is because the battery leaked out lots of fluid when the alternator was faulty, the battery performance has been compromised, and i think i will need to get another one to fix this problem.

 

But what are your guys opinions?

[Rob_the_Sparky 9]

Hi Guys,

 

My 205 Mi16 has a strange problem. Here goes:

 

I had a faulty alternator which overhcharged the battery causing it to lose lots of fluid (it was a new maintenance free battery).

I had the alternator reconditioned, and so the battery does not leak out fluid no more. However, when I am driving the battery will slowly lose power to the point where the engine will cut out and not start until jump leads are applied. (if I have the wipers on I can physcially see them slow down as battery loses power).

 

This problem only happens when engine is running. It starts first time. And i have a cat 1 alarm too.

 

My personal opinion is because the battery leaked out lots of fluid when the alternator was faulty, the battery performance has been compromised, and i think i will need to get another one to fix this problem.

 

But what are your guys opinions?

 

If the battery is half empty then you have your answer, even if topped up then it won't be great as the electrolyte will be seriously diluted as you lost acid and replace it with water.

 

Rob

[hoody_g 4]

If you can check the fluid level in the battery, if it is low top up with distiled water or if you cant you will need a new battery.

 

If the battery is fine it could be the alternator not providing enougth charge.

 

HTH

 

Graeme

 

need to type quicker

Edited May 17, 2007 by hoody_g

[rocky 0]

Hi Guys,

 

Thanks for the replies.

 

It is a maintenance free battery which is completely sealed, so i will have to buy a new battery.

 

I think that your right about the half charge situation. I think the alternator is fine, but a half empty battery will obviously not cope with the demands of a car with it's engine and ancillaries running.

 

Once i have changed it I will let you know if it cures the problem.

[Richie-Van-GTi 70 2 Cars]

My first suspect would be the wire from ignition to the starter solenoid breaking down. Try making a temp wire direct from battery live to starter solenoid, when it clicks next time just bang this temporary wire on and see if it fires up.

[Furiousd 0]

Another thing to try would be the battery connectors. I had a twist on connection that was knackered and gave me the same amount of grief.

 

If you suspect it may be this try clamping the connection with some mole grips or the like and see if this helps.

[rocky 0]

Hi guys,

 

Ok I have fiited a brand new battery today.

 

Basicaly the car started first time and driving wise it is ok. BUT i still suspect there is an issue.

 

When driving below 3k rpm the wipers and electric windows seems to be slow, but soon as i hit 4k rpm and above the wipers and windows speed up?

 

My alternator is reconditioned but does this mean at lower revs it doesnt provide enough charge to battery? And is this normal?

 

Thanks

 

PS: the car always starts first time

Edited May 28, 2007 by rocky

[brianthemagical 1]

crack out the old dmm and see what that tells you. if you do it across the battery then it will also identify (sp) if a wire is knackered.

[rocky 0]

crack out the old dmm and see what that tells you. if you do it across the battery then it will also identify (sp) if a wire is knackered.

 

I know its a stupid question, but whats a dmm?

 

Thanks mate!

[brianthemagical 1]

I know its a stupid question, but whats a dmm?

 

it's not stupid if you don't know what it is. i got it from my physics days where it had to be called a dmm in diagrams and such like. hope that helps.

 

digital multimeter

[rocky 0]

Hi mate,

 

yep it does help!, i will check the voltage at the weekend, i think my friend has one.

[brianthemagical 1]

try search ing for voltmeter/muiltimeter if you need any pointers but basically it should be ~12v at the battery with the engine off and ~14v at the battery with the enigne on. +-10%.

[rocky 0]

Voltage readings i obtained:

Engine off - 12 volts at the battery

Engine on - 11.5 volts at battery

When revved to 4k rpm - 13.5 volts.....which then remained like this.

 

My alternator was reconditioned and put in about a month ago, but the belt looks a sorry state and wasnt changed.

 

I will change belt first, but do you think the belt could be the issue to my voltage problems?

[C_W 3 1 Cars]

Doubtful, but there is something wrong with the charging circuit somewhere. It should really read 13.5v-14.5volts at idle.