i have a '89 town ace super extra 4 wheel drive t/diesel auto. the problem is that the starter motor will not engage (sometimes there is a clicking which i assume is the solenoid othertimes no noise),occasionaly it will work if i turn the key 10/15 times, on other occasions if left for approx 45 mins it will then start. the strange thing is i only have this problem when the weather is very hot, it does not do this at other times even if i have been on a long run. can anyone please help as being stuck with 5 screaming kids in the blasing sun is no fun thanking you in swealtering anticipation richard

- (#3656) richard brown, 4 Jul 02

Richard,
There are several postings on this subject on Townace.com
I followed most of the suggestions to no avail (although the contacts in the starter motor were worn so not a waste if time).
I was new to auto drive and was stopping and turning off without going into park, when this happened I had starting problems next time. I now make sure that I'm in park before turning off and have not had the problem again. Maybe just luck maybe not, may help you.
- (#3657) Clive, 4 Jul 02

This problem is usually caused by a voltage drop between the starter relay & the starter solenoid on the starter motor itself, the resulting drop causes the solenoid to be too weak to throw the pinion in & there fore make the starter turn. The solution is to add a relay into the circuit, with the power take off coming direct from the starter motor supply wire (the huge thick wire direct from the battery under the car to the starter motor. This then maintains a good healthy 12v supply to the solenoid & you won't have the problem again. Best to see the postings on townace.com and all will be revealed. Regards Rob.

- (#3659) Rob Drinkwater, 4 Jul 02

Also, might be a good idea to remove the starter and inspect the contacts on the solenoid, and the motor bearings. For some time, mine has turned over more sluggishly when hot(unusual) and failed completely during the startup after a head job. When tested, the starter's no-load current (spec <120A) was 250Amps or so! No wonder it was burning out the contacts...
Turned out the little ball-bearing at the end of the motor's armature had disintegrated,causing the starter to grind to a halt internally...
A new bearing reduced the current to 90A or so.
- (#3661) david miller, 5 Jul 02

Richard,
Having just read you post & all of the replies, nobody has stated the obvious. The above advice you have been given are all correct, but i would be inclined to go for the easier option(& cheaper).
Sounds to me as the brushes in your starter motor are badly worn, below the minimum limit. There could also be another problem, as already recommended, but once the starter motor brushes have been eliminated, you can then proceed to find other courses for your starting problems. If you can't do the brushes yourself, then any good auto-electrical engineers will service your starter for about £30 all in & bench test it for you as well.

HTH Regards,

Tony.

- (#3685) Tony Lloyd-Jones, 7 Jul 02

Tony,
One of the threads starts with the Auto Electrician bench tested it and found nothing wrong.
That is just it, the voltage drops, the solenoid switches but nothing happens - leave for 30 minutes and it works perhaps, or keep turning the key after 10-15 attempts it works maybe. Someone put in a new starter and still had to tap it with a mallet to make it work, and yes that worked for me also. Disconnecting the feed to the starter from the solenoid and touching that the battery feed works every time.
Clive
- (#3687) Clive, 7 Jul 02

was about to start a thread tonight about this, looks like i've been pipped to the post!
i had the same problem, (inc screaming kids), having had this before i checked the solenoid etc, all good. i fitted the relay and it worked for months, until two weeks ago.
when it failed again i decided to rewire from keyswitch to starter..bad idea. i by-passed immobiliser and "park/neutral" switch. immobiliser not a problem ,but started it in D whilst standing beside and nearly squashed neighbours car!
finally, after a lot of head (and other parts) scratching, found a high resistance on "park" swtich. this switch is not biased and therefore does not throw fully over when changing gear. there is a tiny amount of adjustment, which seems to have been enough, as now starts fine. btw, switch is located on the gear selector lever on off-side of gearbox. hth. ed.

- (#3708) eddie arrowsmith, 8 Jul 02