sounds like a bat flattery but its not???

[jmhole]

Hi guys, the other day in the supermarket car park my beloved Surf refused to start! Its a 3.0 2nd gen ssrg auto and it gave the dead battery click so I wiggled the selector which usually fixes it but it still refused to fire up. 10mins of this and food defrosting in the back, I gave the shifter trim a hard smack and the beast woke up and the lights on the selector box came to life! now starts fine and hasn't happened again since but as I'm fitting an alarm to it I thought I would ask as I looked and cant see anything obvious with the trim off!

[Fernie]

sounds a bit like the problem I had. Have you checked that the battery terminals have a nice tight connection?

You probably have but just thought i'd mention it...

Cheers

Simon

[Ptarmigan]

starter motor?

Hi jmhole,

It sounds like you have a similar issue to me (and about a hundred others on here). I should point out that I`ve not solved my problem yet but the normal approach seems to be something like:

0) Check good battery voltage (more than 4 years old?)
1) Clean and refit battery contacts
2) Check neutral kill switch
3) Clean and refit Earth connections (also add more if in doubt)
4) Check starter relay
5) Check starter motor solenoid contacts (possibly order a replacement contact kit from RoughTrax http://www.roughtrax4x4.com/?doc=16&cid=609&vid=1240)
6) Check ignition circuit


There are lots of other threads about starting issues so, if you haven`t already, try a search also. :-)
Good luck,
Jon

[Albannach]

You have a step Zero? Does it get done or does one just ignore it and go to step one?

[goodcat]

You have a step Zero? Does it get done or does one just ignore it and go to step one?

as said above...probably loose battery connections. happens over time. if you find you cant tighten them up anymore, try wedging a nail or a screw in there. that will tighten things up nicely.

[charvell]

Hi guys, the other day in the supermarket car park my beloved Surf refused to start! Its a 3.0 2nd gen ssrg auto and it gave the dead battery click so I wiggled the selector which usually fixes it but it still refused to fire up. 10mins of this and food defrosting in the back, I gave the shifter trim a hard smack and the beast woke up and the lights on the selector box came to life! now starts fine and hasn't happened again since but as I'm fitting an alarm to it I thought I would ask as I looked and cant see anything obvious with the trim off!

sounds more like the switch at the gear selector, take the trim off and have a good look and clean perhaps ssome electrical cleaning spray from maplins

[Ptarmigan]

I`m going to surpass myself and add a step 5.5, so the new list looks like:

0) Check good battery voltage (more than 4 years old?)
1) Clean and refit battery contacts
2) Check neutral kill switch
3) Clean and refit Earth connections (also add more if in doubt)
4) Check starter relay
5) Check starter motor solenoid contacts (possibly order a replacement contact kit from RoughTrax http://www.roughtrax4x4.com/?doc=16&cid=609&vid=1240)
5.5) Check bearings in starter motor for excessive wear, crimping or free play. Replace or clean and lube. Especially suspect this if starter motor is fine from cold but really half-assed when the engine is fully hot.
6) Check ignition circuit

=============================

Hi jmhole,

It sounds like you have a similar issue to me (and about a hundred others on here). I should point out that I`ve not solved my problem yet but the normal approach seems to be something like:

0) Check good battery voltage (more than 4 years old?)
1) Clean and refit battery contacts
2) Check neutral kill switch
3) Clean and refit Earth connections (also add more if in doubt)
4) Check starter relay
5) Check starter motor solenoid contacts (possibly order a replacement contact kit from RoughTrax http://www.roughtrax4x4.com/?doc=16&cid=609&vid=1240)
6) Check ignition circuit


There are lots of other threads about starting issues so, if you haven`t already, try a search also. :-)
Good luck,
Jon

[jmhole]

Thanks for all the help guys, it was the starter motor contacts, Roughtrax kit fitted now fine.

Thanks.