Car won’t start possible starter motor/solenoid?

[The TVIS Kid]

I have not been suffering with any problems with my car starting but on Saturday night I returned from a 20 mile journey to find my car would not re start. It would not even try to turn over. All I can here is a clicking noise (the solenoid switch?) and a sloshing of liquid which I assume is the fuel pump. The lights on the dash come on and all the other electrics work. I haven’t had time to take a proper look yet and realistically it will be Wednesday afternoon at the earliest but I would like to know what checks I can do on the starter motor and solenoid switch. I actually replaced the starter motor (with a 2nd hand unit) about a year ago and have not had any problems to date. The first thing I will do is connect another battery up to the car just to make sure it is not mine that has died (although it is not too old so I don’t think it’s that). If I run the ecu diagnostics will that point me toward the right direction? It’s a pain because without the car starting it is difficult to get it up on ramps to do any work on the starter motor.

Any advice appreciated.

[LimeyMk1]

1st thing I'd check is your earths, give them all a good clean up.

[Bender Unit]

First things first give you starter a few good knocks with a hammer - If you cant get a hammer in there then use a pole / extension bar etc. Could very well be the starter is sticking.

[The TVIS Kid]

1st thing I'd check is your earths, give them all a good clean up.

Sorry to sound stupid but which earths do you mean?

I tried to start the car last night and it fired up first time and it has been fine today so its definatly electrical. I will try and clean what conecters i can find.

[LimeyMk1]

1st thing I'd check is your earths, give them all a good clean up.

Sorry to sound stupid but which earths do you mean?

I tried to start the car last night and it fired up first time and it has been fine today so its definatly electrical. I will try and clean what conecters i can find.

There's one that runs from the -ve on the battery to the left hand mounting bolt on the thermostat housing and one that runs from the right hand lift hook on the engine to the suspension turret, it's also secured just under the side plate on the right of the engine lid. I ran an extra grounding lead from the gearbox to the chassis on my mk1.

Are your battery terminals secure as well?

[SuperRedMR2]

I had a very wierd problem once in my mk1a.

This is a long shot if all else fails, but the RPM sensor in your dizzy may have gone. This happened to me with the symptoms your saying.

[crazylegs]

try rocking the car in gear. get a mate to help you. its easier than trying to get at the starter without any equipment. it could be a number of things so check the easy and free ones first. bad earth or sticking starter.
your fuel pump will not pump until the engine turns over by the way.

[Jimbo_Jet]

I had something similar on my MK1a – at random intervals the car would just not start, even after the car had just been running. It would not turn over, not a thing, zip. Just a loud click from the engine bay every time I turned the key in the ignition.

I had it in to a garage twice and they checked the starter, the solenoid and even the earths on my electrics. But the problem kept coming back, often a week or so apart. Whenever it did usually if I left it for a few hours it would then start ok.

Eventually this problem left me stranded roadside so I had to get the RAC out. The diagnosed it as a faulty battery after he’d tested everything else. The alternator and everything else was working but the battery was just not holding the charge. The clicking I could hear was the starter engaging but it wasn’t getting enough power to turn over, so all I got was a click! I replaced the battery the next day and, 4 months on, have never a problem since. So yes, def test with another battery first!

That’s my 2 pence!

[Fab4MR2]

There appear to be multiple issues, which can be the problem, and I'll relate one that I just resolved. Just to complicate things.
I had the same problem, more or less. Car would not turn over, but I could hear a clicking sound from the rear. All other electrical systems worked fine and there was no drain on the system when attempting to start the car. I traced the clicking sound to the starter relay, inside the engine bay's main electrical panel. I assumed since the relay was clicking, it must be engaging and therefore working properly. Wrong!
The car does have just over 200k miles on it and I assumed it would not be out of the ordinary for the starter solenoid to be acting up about this time.
Other factors were that the car could easily be jump started and it could easily be bump started. I understand that the starter relay completes the negative ground circuit, to the starter, so it seemed that the little extra voltage/amperage I was getting from jump starts must be working on the positive side of things and was therefore enough to induce the solenoid to work.
So I order a replacement starter, spend 3 hours replacing it, and of course it doesn't help. It turns out I do have an extra starter relay I had forgotten about from an earlier model and decide to switch them, as of course it turns out that all AW11's use the same relay (NA & SC). Well of course the car starts right up. And for whatever reason it now starts a bit quicker than it has for some time. It doesn't sound like it is turning over any faster, with the new starter, but hey, I'll take what I can get (it just bothers me that the quicker starting is a bit unexplainable).

[Swiss Toni]

Hi

Same problem (except I hadn't been out in the car, it was from cold) - turn the key and there is a rapid click-click-click from the engine bay accompanied by flashing lights on the dash.

I believe it is a sticking starter because trying to jump-start it made no difference, the lights come on fully bright (so suggests no battery problem?) - but I can't push the car up and down our drive at the moment....

I'll try rocking it forwards and back before looking for a hammer to knock the starter (where is the starter? bottom RHS?).

(Does this sound like a sticking starter to you guys? - I haven't driven the car in a couple of months and I am sure this is how it makes me feel guilty...) 27k miles on the clock now....