Is £64 + Vat Ok For A Starter Motor?

[Guest timH]

I've had enough of my 'will it / won't it' starting problems.

 

Is that a way OTT price? - for a 1.9?

 

btw, Eurocar parts are showing £69 + VAT, + £35 surcharge, + £8.50 carriage!.

 

 

Thanks

 

Tim

Edited May 23, 2003 by timH

[blue1.9 0]

Not too bad....

 

German Swedish French are showing £55 +VAT +del (7.95 next day) - can't see a surcharge either

Edited May 23, 2003 by blue1.9

[Guest timH]

cheers mate, I owe you a beer.

 

They're in stock, and pretty local to me.

 

Tim

[fiji bob 0]

might be worth checking the wiring before you shell out on a new starter i went through 3 before i found out it was the solenoid wire

[Guest timH]

tbh Bob,

 

the starter looks brand new, compared to the rest of the engine.

Sometimes when I turn the key, I just get a 'click' from the engine bay.

Sometimes I don't get the 'click' at all, and I have to get a push start.

Normally when I get the 'click', I just keep trying, and the starter eventually turns.

 

??????????

 

Seems that the 'click' is a solenoid clicking, but the starter won't go.

 

The starter was fine, very fast and never a problem, until I did my first track day in March.

 

That was when it did the first, **nothing there** type symptoms.

 

help please

Tim

[C_W 3 1 Cars]

tbh Bob,

 

the starter looks brand new, compared to the rest of the engine.

Sometimes when I turn the key, I just get a 'click' from the engine bay.

Sometimes I don't get the 'click' at all, and I have to get a push start.

Normally when I get the 'click', I just keep trying, and the starter eventually turns.

 

??????????

 

Seems that the 'click' is a solenoid clicking, but the starter won't go.

 

The starter was fine, very fast and never a problem, until I did my first track day in March.

 

That was when it did the first, **nothing there** type symptoms.

 

help please

Tim

I would second having a look at the wiring first before buying a new one. I think there have been a few people on here who have bought them and still suffred the clicking (mine has done it on and off for 6YEARS! with the same starter).

 

Check the wiring, including the join on the brown connector on the top of the gearbox. The condition fo t he battery and terminals.

 

Also try putting a wire direct from the battery to the positive spade terminal on the solenoid; this bypasses any losses in the wiring trhough the car and I bet it turns over straight away!

[Guest timH]

Ok, thanks, I think i'll do that.

 

The wire to the solenoid, seems a trick idea.

 

Just have to make sure I don't hit earth, or i'll have a burnt shell on the road.

 

hmm... now there's a thought.

 

If it's that wire, there may be a case of having a separate starter switch in the car.

 

o/t slightly. I've always thought that the earth wires were a bit weedy going to the battery. I only have two, one from the body, and one deep in the engine. - is this right.?

 

Tim

[Guest timH]

Another thought.....

 

the starter's only held on with 2 bolts., meaning I can remove it without removing the inlet manifold.

 

Whoever had the car before must have left one out, as it was too difficult to get the 3rd one back in.

 

But.....would this affect the earthing of the starter?

 

Tiim

[oscis 0]

I drove round in a BX for a year and had to hot wire it with a live to solenoid every time I started it. The present owner has bypassed the ignition LT circuit and just uses a switch on the dash!!

 

It may be worth checking the earth strap running to your battery as these can get very corroded and cause all sorts of problems.

 

Not having a bolt shouldn't cause a bad earth, recently took an engine out of a 16V and it must have had a bolt missing for the last 20 k miles.

[jackherer 543]

I drove round in a BX for a year and had to hot wire it with a live to solenoid every time I started it. The present owner has bypassed the ignition LT circuit and just uses a switch on the dash!!

 

 

one day I will fix it properly..... maybe....

[fiji bob 0]

thats exactly what the starters were doing on mine my battery and earths were fine im using 4 guage cable for the earths the solenoid wire looked ok it wasnt until the starter started playing up agaion for the fourth time that i tried replacing the wire and bypassed the brown plug its been fine since then although it does still pause before turning over now and again i think a switched relay with a direct connection to the battery would sort the problem completely

[Guest tc/pug]

try halfords they are £50

[Guest timH]

Update -

 

Didn't get the starter, thought i'd try the wiring first.

 

1) Made up a supplementary earth, and bolted it to the top of the rocker cover. - just to be sure.

 

2) Found that the earth post on the battery was a bit cack, so improved that.

 

3) The positive wires on the battery weren't that good either, so bared a bit more wire & improved those.

 

4) Whilst under the car, I found the 2 bolts holding the intermesdiate bearing on the driveshaft were half undone. - So did them up.

 

When I started the car to get it down off the ramps, there was this awful squealing noise. - It was the flywheel rubbing on the tin metal cover.

 

There was an awful vibration too, that's now mostly gone away.

 

Q - could have doing those bolts up have done any harm? - i'm not quite sure how they work.

 

BTW - the car seems to start fine (starter motor problem) now. - touch wood.

 

I'm really concerned about this bearing / vibration though.