Hi All,

My GF's car will not start and I think it is the Starter Motor.

When you turn the key all the electrics come on fine but when trying to start it just makes a few clicks and wont start.

I have been told that by tapping the Starter Motor switch a few times it can kick it into life so I can drive it to the garage and get it replaced.

I have looked around the engine and cannot see the Start Motor or recognise it. I can see the Alternator however.

Can anyone help in telling me where it is or a picture of the location would be great.

back of the gearbox maybe, follow one of the leads from the battery towards the gearbox and you should find it

Thanks for that.

However not to sound too stupid I am unsure of where the gearbox is

Looking at my engine I have the Battery on the right and alternator over on the left. Is it near any of these and which side is it on.

Most stuff is looking alien to me in the engine

Try push starting it with some friends if its a manual box, starter may also be stuck in mesh so try turning the engine a bit, also the battery needs checking, it may be flat, try a jump pack.

Hi thelad,

I may be wrong but with the electrics coming on and the fitted amp getting power from the battery when turn on I presumed the battery is likely okay.

Will push starting it work. someone said it wouldnt as its the Starter Motor and not the Battery.

starter is the other round thing at the back of the engine opposite end to the alternator
i would strongly advise against bump starts
i have been in the trade long enough to appreciate you might get away with it but i have also seen many wrecked engines that may also,be of a consequence of it
customers never tell the full story (case in point mech i know has a mitsubitchup in his garage,customer had a belt go and replaced it himself and it wouldnt fire,on strip down one of the hydraulic fingers has literally ripped out of the head im convinced this is from owner bump starting it )
of course your problem could be a failed battery too

If its a manual it should push start. Your amp ect may be pulling all the power!

s and b said:

starter is the other round thing at the back of the engine opposite end to the alternator
i would strongly advise against bump starts
i have been in the trade long enough to appreciate you might get away with it but i have also seen many wrecked engines that may also,be of a consequence of it
customers never tell the full story (case in point mech i know has a mitsubitchup in his garage,customer had a belt go and replaced it himself and it wouldnt fire,on strip down one of the hydraulic fingers has literally ripped out of the head im convinced this is from owner bump starting it )
of course your problem could be a failed battery too

Click to expand...

Thanks for that.

If the electrics and amp are working I would have thought the Battery was okay?

In terms of the starter I was told using a bar and hammer and giving the Starter switch a few taps could kick it into action.

Is this correct and whats the best way or any tips in getting to it to do this

right looking at the engine bay, from where the battery is to the left is the airbox (black). in between the two is a pipe? under that pipe is your gearbox .... towards the back of the gearbox should be your starter motor, if you follow one of the wires, it should go back to your battery . Get something like a bar that you can tap it with and give it a firm tap while your assistant tries to start the car. make sure its out of gear though

nicknack said:

right looking at the engine bay, from where the battery is to the left is the airbox (black). in between the two is a pipe? under that pipe is your gearbox .... towards the back of the gearbox should be your starter motor, if you follow one of the wires, it should go back to your battery . Get something like a bar that you can tap it with and give it a firm tap while your assistant tries to start the car. make sure its out of gear though

Click to expand...

yea a metal bar so when you miss the starter and short the termimals...

Your battery is most likely dead(ish) it takes 160amps to start a car (on average) you turn the key the starter solenoid clicks the starter gear onto the flywheel, once it's engaged an electrical connection is made to then power the starter motor, what is happening is when the starter motor cuts in it draws so much power from the battery the solenoid fails and it lefts the starter out, then what you get it a series of clicks as the starter clicks in and out but doesn't have the power to start the car.

All your other electrical items are getting just enough power to run. The battery just can't start the car

The fix? Charge it

AndyRKett said:

Your battery is most likely dead(ish) it takes 160amps to start a car (on average) you turn the key the starter solenoid clicks the starter gear onto the flywheel, once it's engaged an electrical connection is made to then power the starter motor, what is happening is when the starter motor cuts in it draws so much power from the battery the solenoid fails and it lefts the starter out, then what you get it a series of clicks as the starter clicks in and out but doesn't have the power to start the car.

All your other electrical items are getting just enough power to run. The battery just can't start the car

The fix? Charge it

Click to expand...

i paid £100 for a recon starter for a transit i own it lasted 6 months, on stripping it down myself i found that although bearings and the commutator had had work in the motor itself the plunger in the solenoid was worn out and was digging into the brass it runs in
if the reconditioner had changed the solenoid for a new one at a cost of £15 (these are now made in china and good quality) then i would be able to carry on recommending him which obviously i now dont
to get back to the punto the same is true on these starters that the solenoid sticks and is the part to bash to free it,once this has been found as the reason of the course for non start the starter needs changing soonest because as i say its worn out
its also a part reason i dont recommend a starter motor from a scrap yard if its been in storage for a while as they go off

so hit it OP but you dont need to pulverise it
and as said make sure key turner has car in neutral

Hi All,

Thanks for your help on the above.

I have today bought a jumper battery starter and wondered if from the results it definately points to the battery.

I have hooked it up and when I try and turn the car over now it does make an initial engine start noise but then doesnt start.

So I am thinking the jumper pack is supplying it with a bit of power now and it is trying to start.

I have left the jump start on there to charge it a bit but will this make any difference or to give it the full jump start should i hook my car up to it and jumpt it that way

Put the earth (black) lead from the starter pack onto a metal part of the engine it's self (not the battery earth) just make sure it is on the engine and not the body of the car.

Then try to start it. Come back with the results

Thanks for that.

Its what I did earlier.

I had + clamp on + battery connection and the - clamp on a metal part of the engine.

When I tried starting it the engine did slighly turned over slighty unlike before but did not start. I have put the jump starter on charge as new out of the box so might not be fully up to speed I presume.

When I tried starting it without the jump starter on it didnt make a turn over, just a click so seems it is looking like battery?

Charge it fully then try again, if the starter turned over even slightly that now rules out the motor until you've tried it with a fully charged pack,

Nice One,

So maybe just looking at a dud battery or could it be that the alternator is knackered. The car was working fine and this only happened after it was sitting on the drive for a few weeks.

However never had an issue before that in terms of it struggling to start

Hi All,

Further update.

I tried to start the car via jump leads to my other car and for some reason failed. The problem car didnt even try and turn over unlike when I had the lowly charged jump starter on.

Put the Jump Starter back on after it being charged for the last few hours and the car did try and turn over but failed as expected.

Is there something I am doing wrong with the standard jump leads or is there a reason it wont even turn over from another car battery.

I did connect it up correctly as checked

Red cable connected from Good Car + to Problem Car +
Black cable connected from Good Car - to Problem Car metal part

Any help now would be great as want to just get it started so can drive to garage and sort it then plus figure out what the actual problem is before taking it to garage so they dont try and tell me its something it aint

simply that jump starting will not provide enough power via the jump leads to start the car, normally you would wait a while when jumping a car to let some charge trickle into the dead battery to assist with starting.

if you can swap the batteries on the two cars which should show you once and for all if its the battery or the starter motor

of course the easiest thing you could have done is bought a battery charger rather than a booster pack and put the battery on charge for a few hours instead

Cheers for that.

I am charging the jumper pack overnight and see what happens tommorow.

Other alternative is to just get the local garage to pick it up