Clicking and not turning over whne trying to start

[SteveReid]

Hello All,

My CDT has developed another issue since the nights have strarted getting cold.
If its stood over night and the air temp has been pretty low, when i turn the key to start it, the dash lights and i get clicks, for about 4 or 5 seconds where you'd expect the engine to be turning over, then all of a sudden the engine fires and starts on the first real turn.
I've checked the battery and its fine.
Any ideas would be good

I posted this in the old forum so i moved it here too
Cheers

Steve

[black olive]

low battery voltage, sticky starter solenoid, and glow plug relay ( if yours is a diesel) are all the usual suspects.

[SteveReid]

The battery voltage is fine.
Is the glowplug relay the box in next to the ecu ?
I watched a program last nite, and it could be the starter solenoid.. its only intermittent..more so when its stood over nite

[andy]

The battery voltage is fine.
Is the glowplug relay the box in next to the ecu ?
I watched a program last nite, and it could be the starter solenoid.. its only intermittent..more so when its stood over nite

Had similar problem on a van recently, the battery voltage may be fine under light or no load but try it with a 'garage type' tester or watch the voltage while you get someone else to crank it

The battery that was causing problems on the van has now been put on a mini-digger and guess what - no problems at all ! but there again no fancy electronics either

Andy

[andyw]

I had a similar problem Sunday night but the car wouldn't start at all even though I had moved it earlier that day. I had clicking noise + the xenons flashing even though the lights weren't on at the switch and the dash display flashing too.

I put the battery on charge for 24 hours and everything is fine again now. Maybe dark nights and mornings are too much for the battery. It's at least two years old.

It doesn't explain why Steve's car fires up eventually. If the battery can't provide the current to turn the starter straight away it isn't suddenly going to find an extra burst of energy from somewhere.

Andy

[Simon]

Hello andyw and welcome to the club!

To answer all your questions:

The 75/ZT are very particular about their batteries. If the battery is slightly below-par on it's voltage (that is the continuous voltage it can provide, rather than the peak voltage) then the ECU in the car will misbehave.

The classic symptoms of flashing lights and pannels flashing on and off are the first signs of a battery on the way out.

The cold weather will not help as the colder it gets, the poorer the battey performance will be (damp air too will not help as it will cause the battery to lose even more charge compared to the dryer air in spring/summer time, etc)

The problem with the battery not starting once and then starting after being left overnight is all down to the battery "recovering" slightly during the night.

When a battery is low, leaving it for a short while will allow it to "gain" a few extra volts, these a short-lived and will be used up when you next put the battery under load (ie Start the car).


The simple solution is to replace the battery with a brand new one from a quality reputable source. Buy the best you can afford too as this will help longetivity and help keep your Rover/MG happy and smiling in the future.

:lol:

[Simon]

Steve:
With particular regard to your original question:-

Have you checked the battery connections? Make sure they're good and tight. Also check ECU plenum chamber.

Do you have a FBH (fuel burning heater) fitted? Often a faulty FBH will cause the cars electrics to misbehave and prevent the car from starting. The FBH will automaticaly switch on when the ambient air temperature drops below 5C. If you do a quick search of these forums there are a couple of threads that deal with this problem and how to (temporarilly) solve it.

Sometimes the FBH will interfere with the cars K-BUS signals and create mayhem. Removing the K-BUS cable from the FBH connector in the engine bay will prevent the FBH from causing problems. Doesn't solve the faulty FBH but it does mean you can drive the car normally until such time you can fix/replace the FBH.

Hope this helps. Of course, if this is not the solution to your problem then come back on here and tell us what happened. There's plenty more me and the rest of the lads can throw at you to fault-find on your car! ;)

[SteveReid]

Thanks for your reply simon.
The ECU plenum chamber is clear and the ECU is new as of July this year, its along drawn out story, the battery was replaced at the Ex MG Rover delaers at the sametime.
My problem only occurs if the car has stood overnight, or stood all day without starting.
First thing in the morning, it will click for x number of seconds then turn and fire first time.
Once it has run for a while, it will sotp and restart fine, first time.
I was wondering as someone else mentioned wether it could be the starter solenoid ??

Steve

[SteveReid]

P.S
I do have a fuel burning heater, which i havent checked. It has been working tho.

[Simon]

If the solenoid is sticking then it could very well be causing the engine to incorrectly start. It may also be true that once the solenoid has been warmed up that it becomes 'freer' and will not fail with a warm engine.

Likewise, a similar problem may also affect the starter motor itself.

In order to diagnose these problems properly you are going to need to seek garage help I think. :(

[black olive]

the starters can be problematic on the 75 and ZT, according to the RAC man who came to my help the other week.