300TDI starting again (or not)

Another quick ask about my fricking 300tdi disco, its turns over quite slowly, have had the battery tested 'by the supplier' lol he assures me that its fine. Spins much faster with jump start from my van. Is it normal to spin over faster if the battery is good, would it be because the donor vehicle is actually producing a higher voltage cos the alternator is charging?

I now have 4 seperate earth connections from chassis to engine and battery, they cant all be bad.,

Do starter motors start to spin slowly before they die and draw more current?

Although on the plus side i can now start the van, manoeuvre alongside, whip the jumps out and start within a couple of minutes now. F1 pit crews watch ya back...lol

Reply to
Tony L
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In message , Tony L writes

Try with jump leads on but van engine not running - this will show if it is simply your own battery assuming you have checked connections to same on both live and earth terminals

Reply to
hugh

Heater plugs?

Reply to
William Black

Yes they certainly can depending on brush condition, bearing condition and suchlike. Get an inductive ammeter and check the current draw whilst cranking. I'm sorry I can't offer any definitive figures (maybe someone else here can) but at a guess anything much over 300A is a sign of trouble.

Reply to
EMB

Try swapping batteries and see how it starts with only the one from the van.

Mike

Reply to
Muddymike

... and you haven't mentioned having checked the non-grounded connection(s) between the battery and the starter.

Another thing that you could try is to see if there is a temperature rise at any of the heavy current connections (even the cables themselves) after a period of cranking. Take care - it could be very hot! High temperatures indicate the need to investigate that area more thoroughly.

Reply to
Dougal

Thanks chaps - lots of ideas I will get mucky tomorrow evening and have a fiddle...lol

Reply to
Tony L

Did you try running a jump lead from your own battery to the engine? It's all very well having a good connection between the chassis and engine - but what if the connection between the battery and chassis is shot?

Otherwise - as already suggested - try swapping your battery. As many suggested to me a few weeks ago when I had starter issues (which although very different from yours turned out to be a faulty new starter) - batteries can do strange things! I pressume you have checked the acid level?

Henry Exeter

Reply to
HM

"HM" wrote ...((snip))

That is what I did and it cured the problem on my 2.5 petrol, suddenly it wanted to start if you know what I mean, but with a diesel it's only really the starter that needs power so try running a jump lead from the starter casing to the battery. You may have a bad electrical connection between the starter and the engine casing.

Reply to
Bob Hobden

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