Just my luck you lot being up at brean.....
First time I drove my Townie in the dark...decided to do some late night shopping at Tesco's.
Did me shopping and when I came out it was dark, but the carpark is well lit and I have lights on my disabled buggy. I got my ramp out and loaded my Pride Celebrity disable buggy into the bowels of my Townie
shot the ramp in and locked up.
Jumped into the driving seat and belted up , dropped the steering wheel and turned the key for the glow plugs to do their job.
Put my blue badge away and the warning beep came on and I turned the key expecting the diesel to roar into life........silence !!!
I did it again and still I got silence.
I thought oh christ not a flat battery on this one too !!
But no all the lights were perfect and no dimming when I turned the key.......except the clock lights went off, but nothing else.
I am wondering if I have an immobilizer that I haven't yet found .....my supra use to do this on occasion but a touch of the geart shift soon engaged the switch....but no joy with this one .
I tried everything but it did not want to turn over.
Now is sounds very much like a sticky bendix I can hear a faint click of a solenoid under the passenger sea somewheres....but also I hear a faint one from around the fusebox area.
I had to leave my Townie in the carpark and drive my buggy home about two miles with my shopping basket full and I was Bl***y freezing...got in just about 10.30pm.
Does anyone have any ideas other than the starter motor not engaging ands would there be any other symptoms with a diesel.
Petrol man me....diesels are rocket science.
Cheers all......
Rik
- (#1304) Rik vonTrense, 14 May 05 17:31
It's the well known "voltage drop" issue. Might be iffy solenoid contacts or as I say this bizarre occurrance where the supply from the ign. switch goes missing in the loom somewhere. Plenty info in the archives...
- (#1304) David Miller, 14 May 05 17:37
Dave are the archives in a special place or do you mean wade through all the previous answers to questions asked ?
- (#1304) Rik (Hertford), 14 May 05 17:57
I dread these cryptic answers...it's in the archives !!
I am reading with dread all these problems that are befalling the marque and wonder if I am on to a looser.
For the last 15 years I have driven Toyota Celica's two four cylinders and my last six pot DOHC Supra .. I couldn't have asked for better performing cars with utmost reliability....my Supra of six years still starts first time on the key, is still as responsive on the pedal and if I floor it away from lights, practically nothing can live with it. And it returns over 30 mpg and I have never hung about.
Fo my current needs I prefer the Space Cruiser petrol automatic and i think I am going to go for one of these I like the shape and size of these and the height both front and back entries.
I find with the Townie I have to haul myself up into the cockpit and loading my buggy means a couple of inches steeper climb.
Back to my problem....after a nights fitfull sleep I feel it is the starter motor that is at fault and the
solenoid is not fully engaging the bendix gear.
I don't know the pattern yet so I will see if I can find a pix somewhere.
I hope it is not this mysterious "Voltage drop syndrome"...............
Rik
- (#1304) Rik, 15 May 05 01:59
ahaa.....
i have found the mysterious archives, no wonder i was getting so frustrated ....i have been looking through
all of these questions to try to find my answers.
easy when you know where to look.....god how many people have experienced the same thing as i did last night.
.
- (#1304) Rik, 15 May 05 02:13
Rik, if it is the loom problem, it can be fixed for good by adding a £3 relay down beside the starter.
- (#1304) David Miller, 15 May 05 04:07
How annoying is that....
I went down to Tesco's and the bl***y thing started first time.
Just to make sure I tried it five times and it never hesitated.
Yet again what a joy to drive the Space Cruiser.
Rik
- (#1304) Rik, 15 May 05 06:19
that`s your starter motor sticking then.... get this sometimes myself. QUICK FIX: either knock it with something to move the inside bits around, or leave it half an hour and it`s insides will turn around itself as normal.
Sorry don`t know the proper terminology... not a mechanic :)
One day it will have to be replaced. On mine only had it happen less than 10 times in 2 yrs though.
- (#1304) storm, 16 May 05 01:49
my townace did exactly the same thing. went shopping came back out with the shopping and nothing.
then when i got underneath it it started to rain and got soaked.
managed to get under it and hit the start motor with a wrench as i had no hammer with me.
it then started and has done ever since and of course the rain then stopped and was fine for the rest of the day.
- (#1304) Andy, 16 May 05 09:49
I know it's a month late but I had this problem a couple of years ago with my Ace. Replaced the solenoid contacts myself at £1 each and added a little lubrication where appropriate and it's never missed a beat since.
- (#1304) Brian Wearing, 14 Jun 05 13:26