starter motor only clicks SOLVED

Eus

Eus

New Member
Hi all,
I fiddeled with wiring for a certein job in my P6 3500 automatic and now my P6 won't start any more
- battery is 100% OK
- clicks in 'N' and not in other settings (1, 2 , D), I also checked (with Ohm meter) the inhibitor switch, it nicely switches as it should do,
- starter motor works fine when I take it out and start it on my workbench
- I have 12V on the starter wire (white?) when I switch the key
- starter motor works when I connect the ground/mass-wire (white/yellow) direct to mass.

Why is the mass/ground wire connected to + of my ignition coil via a resistor?
When I measure resistance, I measure 7 Ohm,
I want to connect this W/Y wire directly to mass (as in most other cars), anything against this?
 
Re: starter motor only clicks

Hi Eus,

The clicking is the contacts withing the starter relay. The solenoid on the starter motor can sometimes stick, so use a hammer or piece of wood and tap it gently. It should then work fine when you turn the ignition key.

When starting, the full battery voltage is applied to the coil as the ballast resistor is bypassed. With the engine running, the coil will typically see around 10 Volts.

Ron.
 
Re: starter motor only clicks

Hi Ron

I exchanged the starter motor by a spare one but with the same results.
The issue is that the solenoid does not engage because the ground wire W/Y does not make fully contact with 'minus'.
When i connect this contact directly with minus (with a ditect by pass wire to the frame), the starter works fine.
Why do I have 7 Ohms resistance on the W/Y wire where I think it should be 0 Ohm?
 
Re: starter motor only clicks

I jumpstarted the engine with cables to our other car.
Now it started and I can also start without jumpstart.
Beats me....
 
Re: starter motor only clicks

where did you earth the jump lead to? if to the engine you might want to check the engine to body earth strap?
 
Re: starter motor only clicks

:cry: yes my battery appeared to be worse than expected
 
Re: starter motor only clicks

unfortunately a new battery does not help, I'm going to clean all earth strap contact surfaces now, both battery and engine
 
Re: starter motor only clicks

I had the exact same problem and symptoms - followed many dead-ends trying to fix it - I assumed if the relay was clicking it was working properly. Not so I belatedly discovered. A new relay easily found on the interweb from the U.K. has cured it decisively.
 
Re: starter motor only clicks

hi, thanks for yr reply.
I tried 2 different starters with solenoid, both work fine on the workbench.
Both starter and solenoids have the same problem in the car, so the solenoid can't be the cause.

After installing a new battery , the problem was still not solved as mentioned earlier, but now I had a new probkem: after approx 1 hour a very hot solenoid and an almost uncharged battery.

I dismounted the starter, and on the workbench it worked still wel fortunately, (but a with bad smell of burned wiring.)
I checked the starter wire: it still switches nicely from 0V to 12V when I which the ignition key.

Starter wire and ign.coil wire make no short circuit

Just have made the earth strap connections on the engine and chassis clean, gonna see what that brings tomorrow
 
Re: starter motor only clicks

good luck! if that doesnt work the relay as suggested above is the way to direct your attention i guess?
 
Re: starter motor only clicks

Going by all of the above, I would suspect Rich is right about poor starter earth connection. If you have a resistance measuring multimeter and some long test leads, you could check the resistance from starter motor case to battery -ve terminal. Anymore than about 1 ohm and you may have a poor connection somewhere.

I wonder about the burning smell - when you bench tested the motor, it maybe started to cook because a starter motor is what is known as a "serial wound" motor. This means it is designed to run with a load connected (like a car engine). If you bench test a starter, you should only run it for short bursts or you may burn it out.
 
It appeared to be corroded terminals at the relais (in the right top corner in the engine bay next to the firewall and the oiltank for the power steering) This additional relais is not to be confused with the solenoid at the starter.
At works fine now

Cheers
Eus
 
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