Pug 405 starting / turn over problems

My money would be on be the starter itself. Probably the brushes.

If the air filter was blocked enough to change the cranking speed at-all (which seems difficult to believe) surely it would have increased the speed rather than decreasing it. The overall compression would have been lowered.

Cheers,

Colin.

Thanks for your advice Colin. I will check the brushes on the Starter Motor. Can they be affected by temperature? They are no doubt old, the care has done 175K and Ipresume the shaft could do with some lubrication.

On the previous incident, my battery was old and struggling anyway, but the blocked filter appeared to be slowing things, cos once replaced it turned over faster - and that was in the summer months. I'm sure there's lots of potential contributing factors.

Kev.

change the oil, get the bsttery and leads checked, change the starter

Therefore it's the battery.

Steve

The power of the starting system in general will be affected by cold even when everything is in good condition. The battery will have a higher internal resistance and the engine oil will be thicker for instance. If any bit of the system is below par, then it'll show up worst on frosty mornings. If you're happy that the battery is fine, then I'd suspect the starter.

It could have been a red-herring, or I could be wrong. Certainly, on my petrol engine, the cranking speed doesn't seem to be affected much by the throttle opening. A closed throttle valve surely makes a much worse restriction than a blocked filter.

Cheers,

Colin.

"shazzbat" wrote in news:fqk7o5$om6$1 @news.datemas.de:

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Battery may only be 2 years old, but as Steve said, it all points to the battery. If you have a charger, wait for a frosty night, take the battery inside and trickle charge it. Take it out in the cold frosty morning and see what happens. This would prove the point.

It happens that Mrcheerful formulated :

A friend had a car that struggled to turn over in the cold. Spent a fortune on new bits to solve the problem.

Turned out he had the wrong viscocity oil in.

May explain why its harder to turn over the colder it is.

Paul

Thank for the discussion on the battery - yes regardless of the age - I too suspected it. But last weekend I attempted to charge it, only to find that it is the most charged battery I have ever encountered (clearly my alternator is doing a fine job). I mentioned earlier that in slightly different circumstances (within 6 hours of use, or slightly warmer weather) it has enough guts to make the engine turn over sharply on initial startup.

I favour the suggestions relating to the starter and will refurb it at the weekend.

Kev.

It's worth checking the oil first. What does the battery voltage drop to when cranking?

Starting with the leads, IMO. I had _exactly_ this problem with a Land Rover recently. Previous owner had fitted a massive battery, new starter and second earth lead to no avail. Someone on this group suggested checking the voltage at the starter while it's cranking, and sure enough it was down below 8v.

Feel the leads and terminals for warmth after cranking the engine for a while. Find somewhere that's hot and there's your problem.