Technical starter motor?

[Andyrkid]

hi,
How would i be able to tell if my starter motor is knackered? car won't start and my dad thinks its starter motor, but we don't know much about cars (although he won't admit it!) can you tell if it needs replacing by looking at it once it has been removed from the car? btw its a mk1 punto.

 

[bredsticz]

Making any noise when you try and start her up? How old is the battery and will she jump start?

 

[Andyrkid]

yeah makes a noise when trying to start, not tried jump start but it cut out on thurs nite and wouldn't start so managed to bump start it and the car started fine the next day. battery is old but had it tested at garage on fri and he said it was bit weak but should still start which it did on friday, sat and sun. he also tested the charging system said that was fine.

 

[bredsticz]

Starter is probably fine then if making noise. Battery testing at a garage is VERY unreliable, as whitesei said on here he had a completely dead battery and still showed 20% power on one of them testers.

New battery I'd suggest and should get it going. Try and jump start it, if it jumps fine the a new battery is all it needs

 

[Brin]

can you hear the starter actually slowly turnin the engine over or can you just hear like a click noise when you turn the key??

 

[Andyrkid]

thanks for the advice i'll try that with my dad tomorrow, would a flat battery cause the car to cut out, it happens every now and again when i stop at lights or in traffic. can be weeks between it happening.

 

[Andyrkid]

Brin, yes i can hear it slowly trying to turn for a few seconds then it just stops trying

 

[DaveMcT]

Spot on I had 20% showing but the test machine doesn't know how much capacity is 100%. In my case I had 20% of F-all. and even that dropped out when the battery shorted internally.

Prove its the battery (or not) with jump leads.
If it spins over happily on the leads its the battery.
If its still slow (mine was**), disconnect the old battery earth while the jumps are on and try again. If its still slow = starter or a wiring problem.

Use dad's car to get a new battery.

** Why? because, a failing battery can short circuit internally and bleed the power from the jump leads.

 

[Brin]

Brin, yes i can hear it slowly trying to turn for a few seconds then it just stops trying

probly just battery then mate, try that first

i had same problem turns out my battery was fine but the starter solonoid was sticking, some times it worked only if you tapped the solonoid with a stick lol so i took it off striped it down and cleaned all the gritty sh*t out and was fine like brand new.

 

[Andyrkid]

cheers for the advice i'll give it a whirl tomorrow, if it is the battery can i just charge it up or would it be better to get a new one?

 

[bredsticz]

Could have a dirty or corroded earth if cutting out at lights etc. Don't know if a dead battery will do that

 

[Brin]

cheers for the advice i'll give it a whirl tomorrow, if it is the battery can i just charge it up or would it be better to get a new one?

id say new cos if it was charging fine then it would hold its charge from the alternator

 

[bredsticz]

Definately new, old batterys just don't hold charge anymore, I need to go buy a new one tomorrow actually aswell

 

[Andyrkid]

how would i check for a dirty or corroded earth? and how much is a new battery ? sorry for all these questions!

 

[bredsticz]

New battery I'd say £35-50
Earths, follow the wires and check the end connectors. Main earth to check is the one that is a black wire from the negative terminal going down to near the gearbox. Bit of a pain to get to TBH