Wife's TD5 on 02 plate, has had a few issues with the battery going
> flat. Yesterday, she went out to it - fortunately on the drive -
> turned the key, and nothing. It had been running fine shortly before.
> I went out with my meter, and the battery was completely dead. It
> looks an old battery, so I figured that it had just finally died. I
> had one do exactly the same a few years back on a Focus. No warning. > Just stopped.
> So today, she went and got a nice shiny new one from Halfords. I put
> it in place, hooked on the positive terminal, then went for it with
> the negative terminal. There was a bloody great flash, and the engine
> started cranking, so I whipped it back off again. Quick repeat, same
> thing. So I got her to come out with the key, figuring that it was
> perhaps jammed in mesh and holding the main solenoid contacts in, and
> that if the engine was started, it would 'fling out' and all would be
> well. She turned it on. I dumped the terminal on and it cranked, and
> started immediately, After a few seconds of it running and sounding
> just fine - no whines or graunches or other naughty noises - I got
> her to turn it back off, fully expecting all to now be well. But no > ...
> The engine stopped running for sure - well, under its own steam
> anyway - but there was the bloody starter motor cranking away still.
> I have since popped the starter relay (I'm assuming it's the big
> yellow one marked on the lid diagram as "SM") and still the starter
> runs as soon as the battery is connected. This has got to be a
> mechanical starter motor issue, right ? Something that's 'fixable' on
> one of them, or is the starter motor a sealed-for-life sort of thing > ...?
> Arfa
first try pulling off the little lead on the starter, if it is still the same then the solenoid is likely stuck in (which may be fixable), if however, it is now all quiet then it is a wiring problem (little lead being powered somehow). Generally people don't repair their own starters, but there are plenty of small places that will just fix it for you, rather than a complete recon.