[200q20v] no start problem

[Brett Dikeman]

On Wed, 7 Mar 2001, omllenado wrote:

> My car suddenly would not start, the battery gauge is below halfway and
> i hear just a clicking sound when starting the engine. the engine won't
> turn over. could it be the starter?, the lights would still turn on so i
> guess it's not the battery, but the battery gauge is 1/4. the battery is
> 4 months old.
>

Clicking noise is the starter solenoid and possibly the load reduction
relay(the LR relay is pretty quiet and inside or fuse box; solenoid is
very loud and easily identified as coming from the back&bottom of the
engine compartment.)

Which means either the starter motor itself is bad, or the solenoid's
contacts are fried, or the strap from the solenoid to the starter is
bad(this is by far the most likely; the straps are well known for going.)

This is exactly what happened to me a few months ago.  Sometimes the car
would start, sometimes it wouldn't.  With someone looking in the engine
compartment, they could see the strap making/breaking continuity and
sparking.

Inspect the strap if you can; give it a small wiggle and try starting
again.  If you see/hear a spark(or the lights flicker) than it's probably
the strap.

In any case, just replace the whole damn thing with a rebuilt unit; you'll
have another 10 years of service out of it and the price isn't that bad.

My rebuilt unit was identical in appearance save the strap was
painted; I'm fairly sure the original was not.

Brett