i have had a problem with my car starting. i put the key in,dash lights come on as normal, but just wont start it up. if i bump it it will start straight away! but sometimes i go to start it and it will start normaly! any suggestions to what might b causing this? i have changed alternater so know its not this.thank you!
Sounds like a loose connection. Check battery leads are clean and tight, check the leads to the starter motor and check engine earthing straps are all clean and tight. If after all that it persists in doing the same thing then you can go on to investigate starter solenoids, starter motors, fractured cables and so on.
When you try to start is there any sound ie a click from the starter? Do the lights on the dash go dim?
You need to discover whether power is reaching the starter and the starter is not operating, or whether it is not reaching the starter from the switch.
Are the connections to it tight? Check the thick lead from battery to starter is tight at both ends. As someone else has suggested, check the lead from engine to earth. I'm not sure exactly where it is on your car, but it should be fairly easy to spot. It is the only thick lead bolted to the engine/gearbox at one end and the bodywork at the other. This should also be tight at both ends.
If the starter clicks, this means power is reaching it from the switch. Assuming it also has sufficient power from the battery, then the problem lies in the starter. It *could* be jammed in mesh, but this is extremely rare nowadays.
Anyway, I've got to go out now, so you're on your own. Sorry :-))
As I've said in a previous thread somewhere (but not of any importance)it is possible for the wire going to the starter to fracture internally. It looks ok externally, but the wire inside the sheath is broken. You can test for that by running a similar thickness wire in parallel with the lead and seeing if this improves it. Earthing straps ought to be, as someone said, fairly obvious and go from the engine to a nearby point on the car body. They also need to be clean and tight.
Think I had the same problem on my 1st metro years back.
On the bulkhead left hand side of the car under the bonnet are two relays, white or yellow about an inch cubed in size. One of the two and I can't remember which controls the starter solenoid. Worth checking it is plugged in tight, the contacts are clean and if all else fails replace it.
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