On some mornings my Cab starts without a problem, but lately....especially when it's cold....it doesn't turn over at all. My fuel pump will run, but it just won't kickover. I then give it a push start down the hill and off she goes.
5 minutes later I can be getting petrol and it will turn over without a problem. Same after work [when it's been in the sun all day] it will turn over without a problem.
I'm not sure if it's the starter motor playing up, or a relay problem. Usually though, on a warm day, no problems at all.
FYI it's a 12v 76 Super import with FI. Any ideas?
Doug Sweetman ·
Can you hear it strain ? Does the solenoid throw in ?
If its silent I'd guess relay problem..... weird one though....
squizy ·
She's silent. Other days you can hear the relay click, then she'll turn over. I'll have a good listen this afternoon when no doubt it will start first time.
pete wood ·
slide underneath and hit it lightly with a hammer before trying to start it. It's probably just cold and sticky. My bro used to have the same prob with his Kombi. If this isn't the problem then it's an electrical issue. Have you cleaned up all the terminals recently?
squizy ·
Just for followup on this problem in case others have the same problem in the future, this problem has been fixed by cleaning all of the terminals connecting to the starter motor and replacing the earth strap. I think what was happening is that with the heat of the engine, the connections would expand and make contact, but once it was cold contact was affected. Hope others can learn from this quick fix without going through the cost of a replacement starter motor. Thanks to those who passed on advice.
Chewy ·
I think more likely it would be that the starter was having trouble pulling enough amps as a battery is much less efficiant when cold, coupled with high resistance corroded connections the solenoid probably wasn't getting enough current.
Once warmed up the battery could provide enough amps to overcome the drop over the bad connections and throw out the pinion.
Your battery may be on the way out too.