Vectra diesel starter relay - where is it?

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The Wikipedia entry for the Champ is quite informative.

Vehicle electrics are becoming increasingly complex now. I doubt there is anything mainstream that is not multi-plexed, so without the means to interrogate the network and the skills to so so, repairs such as you are attempting would be very challenging.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan
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I don't remember any synchro in the gearbox - I learnt to double-declutch on it - one certainly could not change down without; trying produced a horrible grating sound.

The Champ I had was 24v with one of the batteries used to feed 12v to an add-on flashing turn indicator.

Mine had a cylindrical power take-off about 3 inches diameter in the LH footwell (I think) which somebody told me was for powering up tanks.

I saw one in a farmer's shed about 1995 which had virtually rusted away to nothing.

The vehicle I bought to replace it was an 850cc minivan that cost me £95 in spring 1971. I kept it going for about 4 years and sold it to a scrap dealer for £5. The steering was loose, rear wheel bearings had failed and were runnning on brass powder from the ball cages; I started it and replace the good battery with a dead one just to get it to the scrap man and I took the headlamp bulbs. I thought the scrap dealer would break it for spares - the tyres were reasonable. A week later a mate saw it being driven about by a gypsy with his wife and kids in it!

Reply to
Graham J
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Synchro from that era barely lasted the life of the warranty - usually six months!

So an ex-military one it would seem.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan
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Interesting. Not used car since Friday, so it has had the weekend for battery to lose charge.

Today it cranked first try and started quickly. Went on an errand - about 2 miles - parked for 20 minutes.

So second try - starter fails to crank. Solution learned by trial and error is to operate starter key several times in rapid succession - faster than once per second - it might take half a dozen tries but so far it has always cranked OK.

Does this suggest a dirty contact in the solenoid or some interaction with the pinion on the ring gear which prevents the soleniod from closing fully?

Reply to
Graham J

Have you eliminated the starter relay in the fuse box?

If several clicks make it go, then it would suggest that the 'points' in either the remote relay or the solenoid on the starter are not making proper contact, this may be because they are really crudded up, or it may be that they are not being smacked together forcefully enough. IIRC The pinion on the starter is spring loaded, so it doesn't matter if it has engaged or not, the starter should still spin up. You can add a heavyish wire to the small contact on the starter and touch the other end to battery live, if it starts straight away (when it had been clicking), then you will have eliminated the starter itself (but don't take failure to spin as being the starter faulty, it may be leads, battery or just bad connections).

Things to check: battery voltage, battery voltage when cranking and battery voltage across engine and starter big lead (at the starter) when cranking, if they vary by more than a couple of volts or so then there is a problem with battery or earths to engine or main power lead to starter.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

By ear - yes. The clicking I can hear is definitely from the the starter solenoid, not the relay in the fusebox. The sound comes from the right area of the engine and has the right metallic character. In the dark, the lights dim fractionally as the solenoid operates so there's significant current going through the solenoid.

Fair comment

That's worth knowing ...

I have a dvm so it's not good at instantaneous measurements of battery voltage while cranking.

It will be easier to diagnose when the fault becomes permanent - hopefully I can sell the car before then.

Reply to
Graham J

then it sounds as though either the voltage is low at the starter OR the contacts in the solenoid are burnt a bit. The solenoid itself takes quite a heavy current, easy enough to make the lights dim, especially if the battery is down .

Reply to
Mrcheerful

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