After changing the clutch on my Mk1, (followed the guide on here..... awesome how to ...... very many thanks to the OP)....... the car wont start !


on connecting the battery, the keycode light comes on before I put the key in and there is a faint buzzing coming from the engine bay somewhere....... the car turns over ok, and the keycode light goes out, but wont start. I have a feeling that I might need to reset the code and hope that I wont need to go to a dealer.


I have had a search for similar threads but none point me in the direction of this snag........ hopefully I can reset the code light if I need to and find out what the noise is......


Over to the experts please ! any help gratefully accepted.


Cheers


Tom

when i changed clutch on my mk1 for the first time last year it started straight away so you probably didnt connect everything, are you sure you assembled everything back exactly how it was

Cheers Flisko.....
I think I have ......Speedo connection, battery, earth lead, reverse pick off and starter motor were the electrical bits disturbed..... all back together as far as I can see......

Could it be the connections on the starter ?. Thinking that if I have connected these the wrong way, possibly giving a live feed somewhere it shouldnt be???????

all seems to be ok ......... frustrating as hell !

Tom

Obvious suspect is the earth on top of the gearbox. But normally if that's missing/bad the engine won't turn over. Same for starter issues.

Check for spark at plugs and fuel dribbling onto the throttle butterfly when cranked. Report back.

Grombuk said:

After changing the clutch on my Mk1, ........... the keycode light comes on before I put the key in and there is a faint buzzing coming from the engine bay somewhere..

Click to expand...

Have people noticed he said that?

Cheers fellas.

In all of this I forgot the basics.... Will check the spark and fuel flow as soon as I can. But as judderbar pointed out, the code light coming on even before the key goes into the ignition is bizarre. I have a bad feeling that I have connected the starter up incorrectly and have somehow fed a permanent live feed into the car in some way.
I have trawled the mk1 forum for details of the wire connections onto the starter and can't find any. Any pointers or photos would be gratefully received.

Will feed more back as soon as I can

Cheers

Tom

judderbar said:

Have people noticed he said that?

Click to expand...

No! That's very, very, odd. So odd, I'd like it re-described!

Is the keycode light on permanently whenever the key isn't in the ignition?

fingers99 said:

No! That's very, very, odd. So odd, I'd like it re-described!

Is the keycode light on permanently whenever the key isn't in the ignition?

Click to expand...

That's correct. As soon as I connect the battery the buzzing starts and the keycode light comes on. The key is still not working in the ignition at all.

Really strange !

Tom

Grombuk said:

That's correct. As soon as I connect the battery the buzzing starts and the keycode light comes on. The key is still not working in the ignition at all.

Really strange !

Tom

Click to expand...

1. Either at the battery or the starter disconnect the large cable that goes to the starter. Does the light go off and buzzing stop? If it does then:

the alternator cable and the big starter cable should be on the same terminal or the arrangement should be effectively like that. The starter initiator cable already seems to be correctly placed since the starter works ok via the key. With the starter cable reconnected again check you have no volts on the starter initiator cable without the key. If you have volts there then clean between the terminals to ensure you have a resistance to electrical flow. If you still have volts there disconnect the starter initiator and then the large alternator cable to see if these disconnections turn the light off.

2. Find where that buzzing is coming from if it continues. On my later punto mk2b the throttle body buzzes once the ignition is on.

3. Check for zero volts between good clean engine metal and the negative pole of the battery.

4. Are you recharging your battery after all of this testing?

Have you put the battery the right way around? Red cable to the +, earth cable to the -.

There's definitely an electrical connection either incorrect or shorting somewhere.

really appreciate the feedback, cant get to sort it out until Friday, work gets in the way of getting back to the Punto until then.......

As soon as I get back I will get on the case and report back !!!!

is plastic cover back on the starter live? ive seen these fitted with live touching inlet manifold before and cover missing (kwickfit fitted)

Update as of now........

Disconnected all of the cables from the starter, connect battery (correct way round) and no keycode light. So it looks like I was getting somewhere. Still nothing connected to the starter motor (and the cables that should be on there not in contact with anything) put key in and turned. Keycode light came on as expected, but the tacho needle is jumping all over the place !!! WTF !!!! have not got much further than a quick look round to see what I have connected in the wrong place, but nothing unusual is jumping out !

More later

Tom

so many problems after clutch change

what about jump starting from other car

remove clean and refit earths

Don't really want to bump start until I get to the bottom of this just in case I do more damage. Earth connections cleaned and no different !

Starting to think I fried the ecu when I connected the starter motor up incorrectly! Thoughts ??

Cheers

Tom

Ok...... this is confusing the hell out of me now !


Had another look around the engine and gearbox and all looks ok. So took the connections off the starter. In that area are the three wires I expected, one from the alternator - red, one from the battery - again red, the smaller wire - again red that fits on the smaller solenoid connection. There is another connection with 4 wires connected to it. I am almost certain this one was fitted to the starter when I took it off. Cant find anywhere for it to go to anyway..........


With the ones from the battery and the alternator connected to the 13mm terminal, the smaller one to the 10mm terminal and the battery connected nothing until the key is in and turned to the first position on the key. Keycode light on as expected but the tacho needle bounces all over the place. Thinking it might be a dodgy earth, checked the earth cable out, and seems ok and is connected correctly. Checked for continuity and all ok. Anyway, I connected a jump lead from the -ve terminal to one of the bolts on the starter, no change, tacho needle still bouncing all over the place when the ignition switch is made to the first part of the turn of the key.......


Anyway, I am at the point I think where I need a fresh pair of eyes on this, contacted the local auto electrician and he is coming out on Wednesday, whatever happens I will feed back on here......


Thanks to those taking the time to reply, appreciate the feedback....




Tom.......

this other connection with 4 wires?? black wires?? Sounds like the earth for the engine loom, try bolting that to the engine block somewhere.

AT LAST !!!

Lots of feedback (thanks again!) that pointed to an earth snag......... one of the earth wires, one of the four that are attached to the same terminal had corroded through, and in getting the clutch done I must have broke it altogether.... thing was, it had rusted through inside the wire sleeve....... so from the outside it looked like it was ok, the only thing I had not checked was continuity on each of those four wires as I did not know where to check them individually.........

Runs like a dream now

Cheers


Tom