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Help! - starter motor issues - stranded!
Hi,
I spent most of yesterday with the stereo out wiring up the rear speakers. Also tinkered with the wiring that leads to the power antenna and got that working. Initially the antenna came up every time the ignition was on (annoying) so I disconnected the lead coming from the ignition and connected the aerial signal wire instead. That meant the antenna came on only when I turned on the stereo.
So, all well and good, I reassembled the dash and had a sit listening to my now kick-ass sounding music for 5 minutes. I then decided to go out for some take away to celebrate but....
on turning ignition.....nothing but a CLICK.
Now i've read a few posts on this (see Mechanic's below for example) and have tried a few things.
Complete description:
Turn key to ON, dash lights up as normal. Headlights, interior fan, brakelights, stereo etc all working fine.
Turn key to start engine and everything goes off and a CLICK is heard from engine bay. Then for some reason my stereo comes on and my alarm starts to go off.
Now I have noticed the engine not starting up well in the last week or so. Do you think that the starter (or just contacts) were on their way out and I made things worse by tinkering with the electrics. The Surf started fine just before I began playing with the wiring. I did have the engine in ON position lots whilst checking the operation of stereo / aerial.
Is there a current to the starter contacts when the key is in the ON position? If so then perhaps I have burnt them and need to try the HAMMER trick.
I have considered the immobiliser but it seems to be working OK. Arms & disarms fine. Have also considered disconnecting batteries to reset ECU but am worried this may cock up the alarm. I don't have the code for the immobiliser (not included in the paperwork I got from previous owner (stupid me!) despite him saying it was. GRRRRR!
Any thoughts would be helpful? I'm a bit broke at the moment so can't afford to pay huge fees for a mech/electrician to come out and tinker. Would pay if I thought he'd actually fix it but nothing is definite with a Surf.
Help!!!!
Dan
I spent most of yesterday with the stereo out wiring up the rear speakers. Also tinkered with the wiring that leads to the power antenna and got that working. Initially the antenna came up every time the ignition was on (annoying) so I disconnected the lead coming from the ignition and connected the aerial signal wire instead. That meant the antenna came on only when I turned on the stereo.
So, all well and good, I reassembled the dash and had a sit listening to my now kick-ass sounding music for 5 minutes. I then decided to go out for some take away to celebrate but....
on turning ignition.....nothing but a CLICK.
Now i've read a few posts on this (see Mechanic's below for example) and have tried a few things.
Complete description:
Turn key to ON, dash lights up as normal. Headlights, interior fan, brakelights, stereo etc all working fine.
Turn key to start engine and everything goes off and a CLICK is heard from engine bay. Then for some reason my stereo comes on and my alarm starts to go off.
Now I have noticed the engine not starting up well in the last week or so. Do you think that the starter (or just contacts) were on their way out and I made things worse by tinkering with the electrics. The Surf started fine just before I began playing with the wiring. I did have the engine in ON position lots whilst checking the operation of stereo / aerial.
Is there a current to the starter contacts when the key is in the ON position? If so then perhaps I have burnt them and need to try the HAMMER trick.
I have considered the immobiliser but it seems to be working OK. Arms & disarms fine. Have also considered disconnecting batteries to reset ECU but am worried this may cock up the alarm. I don't have the code for the immobiliser (not included in the paperwork I got from previous owner (stupid me!) despite him saying it was. GRRRRR!
Any thoughts would be helpful? I'm a bit broke at the moment so can't afford to pay huge fees for a mech/electrician to come out and tinker. Would pay if I thought he'd actually fix it but nothing is definite with a Surf.
Help!!!!
Dan
Originally posted by The Mechanic
It seems that many of you fellow Surfers have or are suffering from the dreaded starter motor...CLICKthis is nearly always (barring loose contacts and flat batteries) the starter solenoid contacts being burned which creates a high resistance to current flow. If you find yourself stuck with a motor that won't ...er...motor then get someone to hold the ignition key in the start position (against the return spring) and with the jack handle belt the starter motor a goodly smack and it should wake up. Please take all the usual common sense precautions..out of gear...fingers out etc..
If you have only just begun to experience this problem, then you may be very lucky and get away with just cleaning the contacts carefully....except you have to get the starter motor out or at least in a position of access. If you don't disconnect the main powerlead from the battery/s then use plastic tube or insulating tape to isolate the 'live' wire from potential earthing and possibly spiking the ECU!!!!!
And you guessed it mines on the blink
....it's not just common to the Surf either.
If you have only just begun to experience this problem, then you may be very lucky and get away with just cleaning the contacts carefully....except you have to get the starter motor out or at least in a position of access. If you don't disconnect the main powerlead from the battery/s then use plastic tube or insulating tape to isolate the 'live' wire from potential earthing and possibly spiking the ECU!!!!!
And you guessed it mines on the blink
....it's not just common to the Surf either.
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