Technical Punto not starting on key

[Cromus]

Hi i have a fiat punto 1.1 sx 1994 untill recently it started on the turn of the key ,occaisionally not starting but with persausion or a gentle rock back and forth would start, now however it won't start on the key which is inconvienient to say the least as i can't stop at a garage to refuel as it won,t start again ,it will start however with a push start..when i turn the ignition on i can hear the fuel pump working the noise stops the injector warning light goes out turn the key and nothing happens ,the starter motor won't turn over at all , i have changed the starter motor over however the only one i could get was one from a 1.2 punto all though as far as i can tell the only difference is the soleniod acuator terminal (1.1 is a spade terminal,1.2 is ring terminal), yesterday i took out the battery,to check the earths to the crankcase and body they all seem fine,i have checked the battery as best i can switching on the ignition and lights to see if they stay bright for any length of time, they seem ok, also when i leave lights on and turn ignition to start they go straight out, any ideas ever gratefull in advance
Cromus

 

[auldeck]

Hi Cromus,
I had exactly the same problem and when I changed my starter it cured it completely.what i was told though is you must replace it with one from the same manufacturer that you took out as they are different.
I also put jump leads across the starter terminals before i fitted it just to make sure it was ok, I also took off and cleaned the earth connections even though they looked ok.try disconnecting your earth at gearbox end and putting a jump lead from your battery earth and connect other end to your gearbox, if car starts its defo a bad earth.hope this helps...Eck

 

[Cromus]

kk thanks for that, will try what you suggest and let you know the result

 

[Cromus]

on the starter there aere two terminals one straight from the live on the battery and a small post terminal for a ring connector i ,m geussing this goes to the starter relay, when i run a jump lead from live terminal on battery to smaller ring terminal the starter engages and with igintion switched on the car starts what does this suggest ...igintion switch dodgy or starter motor relay or somthing else?