I'm putting this out there in case it helps anyone. I don't know yet if it has cured my problem, but it's something to check if you are having starting problems.
First a bit of background........... We bought the car (1.6 HDi 75) 18 months ago, with very little history and 100k miles on. One of the first things I noticed was the engine undertray was missing (and with them being like hen's teeth second-hand and over £100 new, I can understand why). It looks like the car has been run without the undertray for some time, and I haven't bothered replacing it.
Anyway, on to the non-start issue. Wor Lass told me a while ago that when she got in the car the starter wouldn't engage, but the second time she tried it was fine. Of course, when I tried it it was fine as well. She now tells me that it's happened a couple more times since, always first thing in the morning. Earlier this week it wouldn't start again, but this time it wasn't intermittent, it was permanent. When I tried it the day it happened, the solenoid wasn't clicking. Today I've had time to actually attempt to replace the starter. Looks like a PITA to do but I didn't get that far. The first thing I did was confirm my suspicions of dead starter. This time, when I tried to start the engine, the solenoid was clicking rapidly, but after a short delay. My multimeter confirmed the battery had well over 12v. When I went to remove the starter, I undid the cables and noticed the smaller one had loads of corrosion on both the cable terminal and the post on the solenoid. I cleaned them both and smeared the terminal with copper grease. After reassembling it, I turned the ignition and it started.
So, I don't know if running sans undertray has got anything to do with the corrosion on the terminal, but before anyone condemns their starter it's worth checking that the switch cable terminal and post on the solenoid have clean mating faces. The terminal being aluminium and the post being brass might also encourage the formation of corrosion, but I'm not 100% sure about that.
If our intermittent non-start recurs - making this post a load of drivvel - I'll report back.
Stuart.
First a bit of background........... We bought the car (1.6 HDi 75) 18 months ago, with very little history and 100k miles on. One of the first things I noticed was the engine undertray was missing (and with them being like hen's teeth second-hand and over £100 new, I can understand why). It looks like the car has been run without the undertray for some time, and I haven't bothered replacing it.
Anyway, on to the non-start issue. Wor Lass told me a while ago that when she got in the car the starter wouldn't engage, but the second time she tried it was fine. Of course, when I tried it it was fine as well. She now tells me that it's happened a couple more times since, always first thing in the morning. Earlier this week it wouldn't start again, but this time it wasn't intermittent, it was permanent. When I tried it the day it happened, the solenoid wasn't clicking. Today I've had time to actually attempt to replace the starter. Looks like a PITA to do but I didn't get that far. The first thing I did was confirm my suspicions of dead starter. This time, when I tried to start the engine, the solenoid was clicking rapidly, but after a short delay. My multimeter confirmed the battery had well over 12v. When I went to remove the starter, I undid the cables and noticed the smaller one had loads of corrosion on both the cable terminal and the post on the solenoid. I cleaned them both and smeared the terminal with copper grease. After reassembling it, I turned the ignition and it started.
So, I don't know if running sans undertray has got anything to do with the corrosion on the terminal, but before anyone condemns their starter it's worth checking that the switch cable terminal and post on the solenoid have clean mating faces. The terminal being aluminium and the post being brass might also encourage the formation of corrosion, but I'm not 100% sure about that.
If our intermittent non-start recurs - making this post a load of drivvel - I'll report back.
Stuart.
Not the owner, just the bloke who looks after it.
ALL the owner does is drive it and put fuel in.
ALL the owner does is drive it and put fuel in.