(Home) Starter problems again

I have started having the dreaded clicking on my Townace again, this starter was a Blueprint reconditioned item which I bought last February. I rang up the suppliers who told me that I would have to bring in the starter & pay for a new one whilst they sent the old one back to Blueprint. They would only refund the money if it was a faulty starter. I told them that I was not prepared to pay £150 again for this, over the last few weeks it has gradually been getting worse & taking longer to restart especially after a long run. Today I removed the starter & stripped it down to check the contacts, there was slight pitting on the contacts so I took the whole thing to my local autolec, they said that the pitting was not bad enough to cause the problem but gave me a new set of contacts. I also checked the conections on the starter & ignition switch, also I adjusted the micro switch on the gear selector & checked the adjustment on the inhibitor switch on the box. I have now gone through the complete starting system, I have now started the bus over 20 times without a problem. What is left to check/change if the problem comes back?

- (#9325) Arshad Mahmood, 16 Mar 04 11:51

Arshad,
I gave up trying to find the cause, and ran a feed to the solenoid via a relay with a starter button on the dash, see Ace Answers Done all the checks you have, plus cleaning battery contacts/earth lead/and earthing points but still the problem comes and goes. I use the Ace daily and have several starts, so it is not lack of use.
- (#9325) Clive (Bristol), 16 Mar 04 12:02

It's a diesel and, the battery MUST be in good condition to supply the electrical load which is required. It is essential that the terminals are clean and that there is perfect conductivity between the positive terminal and the cable clamp. This was my problem when I continued to have the same symptoms following starter solenoid and contact cleaning. But, there is no doubt that there is a mysterious voltage drop between the starter switch/relay and the solenoid and this can be overcome by a direct feed to the solenoid, via a seperate switch.
Interestingly, I have just sorted out the same problem on a Nissan Prairie. Corrosion on the starter feed cable terminals, was the culprit.

- (#9325) John Davis (Leics), 16 Mar 04 12:43