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MOLLY!!! new problem, electrical.
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Author:  andbat [ Sat May 16, 2009 2:01 pm ]
Post subject:  MOLLY!!! new problem, electrical.
so i had molly running, warmed her up. adjusted the carburetor and had her idling really nicely and i was chuffed. put the air filter back on her.

went to start her again and the solenoid just clicks. or makes one click. sprayed with wd40 wiped it all down. check things i could pull of and wipe down and what not.

still clicking. at one stage the orange and red light didn't even come on. but they are again now. i notice once when i put it on engine ready the lights came on bright and then faded.

positive terminal on is getting power, checked that.

my diagnosis is that it is shorting somewhere. i checked everything i could find though. i pulled back the plastic coated accel cable just incase it was through that even. but not luck. this happened yesterday but i was on a hill so i just rolled started.

any suggestions? is she just earthing somewhere...where? should i take everything off the solenoid? wipe it and put it all back on again? (obviously disconnecting battery first)

have recently put new head gasket on. but she drove home and stated a few times again after then. just that one other time i was on hill she didn't start?

help help help :cry:
Author:  Mick [ Sat May 16, 2009 2:10 pm ]
Post subject: 
If you battery is completely flat, then the starter motor will not have enough torque to turn and will drain the battery of its last voltage jibbers. this will cause the solenoid to click on and off. So check the voltage is about 13 volts. Also keep the voltmeter on the terminal while you try to start the car. Check to see that it stays reasonably high as you try to turn it over.

Tighten your battery terminals and make sure they are all connected up cleanly with no damage to the cable ends.

Check with your multimeter what voltage you get across the solenoid.
If with the starter key to START, and the starter clicked in you get 12 volts then the solenoid is suspect.

Its probably something silly however...like a flat battery...
Author:  Hagar [ Sat May 16, 2009 2:15 pm ]
Post subject: 
First, try putting her in frist gear and rocking the car back and forth a a bit. It might be as simple as a slightly jammed starter motor. Secondly, put her back in neutral and try pushing the mechanic's switch on the solenoid (if you have one). You might have a dead solenoid. Finally, get the tools out and start cleaning the big terminals - battery, solenoid, starter, earth.

Hopefully, that'll get her going.


[edit] or it could be a dead battery...
Author:  meeni [ Sat May 16, 2009 2:48 pm ]
Post subject: 
if you had it running for a long while and your battery is now stuffed id look at your alternator too...
Author:  ryan [ Sat May 16, 2009 5:05 pm ]
Post subject: 
meeni wrote:
if you had it running for a long while and your battery is now stuffed id look at your alternator too...


It could just be the alternator and not the battery, Although I wouldn't think so.

Hagar wrote:
First, try putting her in frist gear and rocking the car back and forth a a bit. It might be as simple as a slightly jammed starter motor


When he clutch started the car, wouldn't that free the starter?
Author:  meeni [ Sat May 16, 2009 5:57 pm ]
Post subject: 
well yeah id lean more towards alternator.. when we were racing the other weekend my team mates cars alternator packed in.. could push start it and run it fine.. even race it but when it was switched off everything was dead.. the alternator was working.. but not well enough
Author:  Convertible Mini [ Sat May 16, 2009 6:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Guessing.
I would test it step by step and bit by bit properly before I throw my guess in the pile. Might be a simple thing. Start where the power originates from ... at the Battery... test the battery not by eye you need a load tester and make sure the terminals are clean where you "cannot see" that means between the post and the battery terminal. Guessing does not fix things properly. Use a simple multi meter on Volt DC scale across the battery. Should be above 12.5 volts and when you turn the key to start it must not drop below 10 Volts. If it drops below 10V it could mean two things either the battery is stuffed or the starter is darwing too much power. This is why you need to load test the battery properly ... To eliminate things step by step. If the starter is drawing too many Currents and sultanas it is bound to become hot somewhere on a connection or the starter itself check for heat. If no heat try another battery or jump it from another car. And please use decent jump leads not like you can buy from the cheap Auto shops ... Remember current does not travel through plastic it needs copper. Good luck.
Author:  andbat [ Mon May 18, 2009 1:20 pm ]
Post subject: 
okay what i have done so far. i took of the terminals from the battery. cleaned it up with a wire brush put the cooper more into the negative on and forced it all together more when i put them back onto the battery.
i took all the connections of the positive terminal and the other part that doesn't get power in the engine bay and cleaned them all with WD40 and then wiped them very dry before putting them back on again. (oh yeah i disconnected the battery while i did this obviously)

after doing all this i went to start her and got one "uerrn" before the clicking started again (like a half turnover)

since i don't have any of those charge, current or sultana measuring tools i decided to just eliminate that factor if it was a problem.

so i connected her up to my mates car with my heavy duty jumper leads. (yes i did connect the right terminals and i did have my mates car running whilest connected)

at first the orange'n'red lights didn't light up at all (which also happened a couple of the other times i went to start her) but i put molly in gear and rocked her back and forth, as well as making sure the jumpers were connected with enough area. then i gave my mates car a bit of a rev.
lights back on i went to start her but just clicking once again.

should i call the NRMA to the front of my house for the 3rd time?
Author:  Mick [ Mon May 18, 2009 1:30 pm ]
Post subject: 
Your battery is ruined. A flat battery causes the solenoid to turn into a clicking relay.



This is the deal...

the battery is at 12 volts.

You turn on the solenoid which turns on the starter motor,

the starter motor drains the battery of what little juice it has,

the voltage drops and causes the solenoid to turn off,

the voltage rises back up in the battery without the load,

the solenoid clicks back on,

the starter motor sucks the little juice the battery has without turning over

and the solenoid clicks off,

the solenoid clicks back on,

the starter motor sucks the little juice the battery has without turning over

and the solenoid clicks off,

repeat the last three over an over again
Author:  peterw [ Mon May 18, 2009 1:37 pm ]
Post subject: 
The clicking means that the solenoid is switching OK (still could be faulty though) so if it won't start with another car and jumper leads then the problem is likely in the starter itself.

Easy way to test the starter it is to connect a +ve jumper lead to the terminal on the starter, the other lead to the motor somewhere (earth) and straight to a battery. This will put power straight to the starter and bypass all the other systems. If it doesn't kick over then the starter is faulty. It will spark so make sure you don't have any petrol close by.

Pete
Author:  Mick [ Mon May 18, 2009 1:44 pm ]
Post subject: 
peterw wrote:
The clicking means that the solenoid is switching OK (still could be faulty though) so if it won't start with another car and jumper leads then the problem is likely in the starter itself.

Easy way to test the starter it is to connect a +ve jumper lead to the terminal on the starter, the other lead to the motor somewhere (earth) and straight to a battery. This will put power straight to the starter and bypass all the other systems. If it doesn't kick over then the starter is faulty. It will spark so make sure you don't have any petrol close by.

Pete


If the solenoid was faulty, it would simply click but not allow the starter to turn, or heat up till smoke came out from a dirty contact.

Similarly, if the starter was at fault, it would either not turn at all, or draw so many amperes such as the smoke would soon be evident from the starter motor.

The clicking shows a battery voltage rising and falling with the load as it is switched in an out.
Author:  Mini Mad [ Mon May 18, 2009 3:21 pm ]
Post subject: 
get better jumper leads or jump start it from the solenoid itself.

I got a flat battery in Spiro once. I didn't have any jumperleads on me so went to a servo, and it took two jumperleads from the same car to start it. One set to the battery and another set to the solenoid. The leads you get these days are useless.
Author:  drmini in aust [ Mon May 18, 2009 5:00 pm ]
Post subject: 
Mini Mad wrote:
The leads you get these days are useless.

Most, but not all eh Josh... :wink:
Author:  andbat [ Mon May 18, 2009 6:17 pm ]
Post subject: 
the leads i am using have worked for me and others many MANY times before and they haven't ever gotten hot or smokey.

the leads are good and fine.

i've seen where leads and melted the plastic of themselves because they have been useless.
Author:  Mick [ Mon May 18, 2009 6:20 pm ]
Post subject: 
I missed this bit.

Quote:
so i connected her up to my mates car with my heavy duty jumper leads. (yes i did connect the right terminals and i did have my mates car
running whilest connected)


i thought you were trying to start it off the car's own battery...

Cheap Jumper leads rarely have enough contact area or grip or gauge to transmit 100 amps properly anyway..
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