A couple of weeks ago I bought a '93 Defender 110. This morning no way to get the car started altough 6 ours before I came home without any problem. The battery seems ok but I'm worried about the starter since I don't hear any noise when switching on. When taking the car in tow after 2m the engine runs. Could someone give me some advise how to check what really going wrong. Luc Bostyn
If I understand you correctly, the starter is not operating at all. This suggests a bad connection rather than a faulty starter. If there is not even a click, the bad connection must involve the starter solenoid operating circuit. Assuming headlights operate, it is not the actual battery connections, but a prime candidate could be the engine/chassis earth strap - don't know where this is on that model, on mine it is across the LH front engine mount. The last time I had this problem it was a loose connection between the starter and the solenoid. JD
If there is no clicking at all from the starter then is most likely, as mentioned above, to be the connection to the starter solenoid. The usual culprit is the actual connection to the solonoid itself, i.e. the thin wire. The connection gets dodgy since it is within an inch or two of the turbo, and is an absolute sod to get at (particularly with a hot turbo!). Usually the wire remains within the vacinity of where it should plug onto the spade terminal on the solenoid, so with good deal of groping about it is possible to push it on and off a few times to get things going again. It will then be ok for months until a situation occurs where being unable to start will be highly embarassing..........
This one invariably stumps the AA and RAC by the way.
Cheers Richard
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