1.4i random non start!

[david h]

Hi all,

I wonder if you could help me.

My 1.4 petrol multispace seems to randomly decide that its not going to start. When the key is turned, all the lights on the dashboard come up as normal then when the key is turned to the sprung loaded position to operate the starter, the nothing happens, no engine spinning other than a light clicking noise coming from under the dashboard on the right hand side where I think the BSI is located.

I presume the imobiliser is ok as I do hear this small relay click from the right hand side when the key is turned fully to start but nothing like a starter motor click.

The trouble is that the van will go a couple of weeks maybe more before it will have an episode of this happening and then if its left alone for a few hours, the car will suddenly start like nothing has happened. Wierd!

Does anyone have any idea what this could be.

Having a hunch, I have noticed by the way that the carpet is wet occasionally just below the drivers seat and I get a lot of water dripping from the drivers side wheel arch.

I've heard water can get in to the BSi but would that be causing these starting issues?

How would I check for water ingress to the BSI and is it easy to remove to check?

Thanks very much in advance.

Cheers, David.

BTW the van is epic when its working albeit a little slow :-)

[Ol'Jeffers]

Yes a drop of moisture in the BSI can cause all sorts of fun and games!
Whip off the wiper arms, remove the plastic covers and clean out the scuttle
area below the windscreen. check that the foam is still in place.
The BSI is not too bad to get to. Photo each step as a reminder.

[david h]

Yes a drop of moisture in the BSI can cause all sorts of fun and games!
Whip off the wiper arms, remove the plastic covers and clean out the scuttle
area below the windscreen. check that the foam is still in place.
The BSI is not too bad to get to. Photo each step as a reminder.

Thanks for your pointers - I've had a look at the BSI and its all dry as a bone under there and all secure and the scuttles clear. The frustrating thing about this is the intermittant nature of the non start. If I wasnt in a hurry and going somewhere when it fails and had time to get the meter out to put on the starter solenoid with an assistant to turn the key I'd have a chance.
I think I'm going to wire a bulb/LED to the starter solenoid feed and see if the starter is getting a feed when the engine fails to turn i.e the LED lights then "Starter failed" No LED light = "Something else........" lol.

[brodfather11]

Its not just a bad/dirty connection/earth on the battery/starter/engine is it ?. They can be temperamental so why not look for the simple things first ?

[mor9h3us]

David had the same problem with a series 1 Berligo same motor,
It was the starter solenoid, when it didn't start I gave the solenoid a sharp tap with a hammer and started every time.
try it ---U need to replace the starter motor !!
cheers from down under

[david h]

David had the same problem with a series 1 Berligo same motor,
It was the starter solenoid, when it didn't start I gave the solenoid a sharp tap with a hammer and started every time.
try it ---U need to replace the starter motor !!
cheers from down under

Solved!

Yippee! Fortunately during the latest episode of non-starting I had my wife available to turn the key whilst I measured the voltage on the starter solenoid. Lo and behold, 12v appeared when the key was turned to start and dis-appeared when the key was released just as it should.The engine remained dormant so I was pretty confident it was the starter or more specifically the solenoid.

I had had a hunch it might be the starter so I had previously bought a brand new "no name" starter for 30 quid (was apparently bankrupt stock) off "a well known internet auction site" as something to try.

I had to modify the starter solenoid connection as the Berlingo harness has a ring terminal connection and my new starter was a spade terminal, but no worries as this was easy enough to do.

Any ho, swapping the starter out and the car fired up straight away. A week on now and no further problems.

Looking at the old starter (a valeo one), The solenoid terminal post connection shows high resistance (open circuit) to the starter body and applying a little leverage to the terminal post causes the resistance to drop to a few ohms which I would assume is correct (it'll need a few amps to operate the solenoid and its plunger)

So obviously there is an internal fault inside the starter. If I get time I might get a hacksaw to it to try to determine where the wire break or indeed the dry solder joint inside it is.

Many thanks for all your help and I hope to be able to contribute further to this forum!

[GI_Bri]

the starter motor on my 1.6 hdi did the same thing when i took it off and stripped it down the copper solenoid sleeve was green with water contamination so a new starter motor was required