Hey guys, sadly ran into another hopefully small issue with my 300zx. Came to start it this morning and I'm met with nothing but clunky clicking noise.

It's been sat over the weekend and last run last week with no issues or problems.

 

I took a quick video to give a better indication (:

 

 

After speaking with a few friends think it could be a faulty starter motor ?

Did the dealer give you any kind of warranty at all, chap? Or did they just agree to fix the issues we highlighted...?

 

I'd say either starter or battery. Have you tried jumping it? In my experience, they only make that kind of noise when the battery doesn't have quite enough oomph to turn it over properly.

Sounds like a dead battery. Check that that's fully charged.

 

If it does end up being a starter, you're well advised to buy a new genuine one. They aren't cheap, but once fitted you can forget about it for another 25 years.

Did the dealer give you any kind of warranty at all, chap? Or did they just agree to fix the issues we highlighted...?

 

I'd say either starter or battery. Have you tried jumping it? In my experience, they only make that kind of noise when the battery doesn't have quite enough oomph to turn it over properly.

 

There is a warrenty, I'd have to look through and see what it includes. Haven't tried jumping yet as had no other cars to jump off this morning but I'll give it a go tonight. On the tries before I took the video it was alot more clunky sounding so I kind of dismissed a battery issue.

Sounds like a dead battery. Check that that's fully charged.

 

If it does end up being a starter, you're well advised to buy a new genuine one. They aren't cheap, but once fitted you can forget about it for another 25 years.

 

I'll try jumping later tonight, failing that new starter motor it is!

Defo a flat battery.

 

Jeff

It's been sat over the weekend and last run last week with no issues or problems.

 

Batteries can just 'go' and it sounds like yours is one of them, so i'm another saying you need a new one.

Quick update,

 

Had a friend call out yesterday evening to try and jump start the car, still unable to start however.

All dash lights come on fine but when turning the key you just get the ignition clicking sound. Starting to think it could maybe be an issue with the immobilizer?

Try a hammer

it indicates a flat battery.

Or u have a bad earth lead.

Quick update,

 

Had a friend call out yesterday evening to try and jump start the car, still unable to start however.

All dash lights come on fine but when turning the key you just get the ignition clicking sound. Starting to think it could maybe be an issue with the immobilizer?

 

 

Ok you are going way to complicated too soon, a mistake made by many new owner`s.

 

Just take it from the guys here, you have a FLAT BATTERY, nothing technical, the battery is so low that it cannot cope with the starter motor current draw which in the case of the zed can be anywhere between 200 and 500 amps depending on ambient temperature, this draw is very high but for a short time but still the starter / battery cables are substantial and need to be.

 

In the video you can hear the starter trying but not having enough power to stay on it, the ignition lights flashing on off is a sure sign as the current to the starter is sucking all the available battery juice and then drops out and then as you on the key it tries again and so on.

 

The trouble with a really flat battery is when jumping from another car the dead battery sucks up a large portion of the current from the jumper car, add to this maybe undersized jump leads and bad connection on the clips when jumping and it will not start. One trick when jumping a car with a flat battery is to connect the earth lead to the car and not the battery on the car your jumping as well as using quality heavy duty leads of course

 

Also connect the jumper car and leave it running for 10 minutes to try and give the dead battery a chance, I have a 600 amp mains jumper I used in the workshop and even that would occasionally need to be left connected on boost for several minutes with dead batteries, really do not under estimate how much electrical power is required to start an engine.

 

You may be be best to remove the leads and charge it for a couple of days, the battery could have a dud cell and that will be why it went flat and why even a jump failed, however you could have a battery drain when the engine is off which needs looking at.

 

 

Jeff

Nice one Jeff, I'll get it sorted and stop flapping :lol:

 

Thanks for the advice guys!

Its a long time since I took part in the forum, but nice to see its still going strong. And great to see you still active, Jeff (and thanks again for all your help in the past)!

I too have a starter issue, which is why I'm here. Despite battery being A1 (regularly charged), very occasionally the starter will give that worrying sound as though the battery was low. Try it again, and chances were high that it would spin the engine and start as though nothing was wrong. The first time it happened was after a 200 mile run, when I knew the battery was fine. So, other than battery, I suspected either failing pinion drive on the starter, or (worse still) worn teeth on the flywheel. Took the motor off yesterday, checked flywheel - all teeth perfect, with perfect mesh marks. Starter motor pinion teeth fine too. Where does that leave me? I'm suspecting something inside the starter motor, but do I have it rebuilt locally, have it tested by a Nissan garage, buy an OEM, or send it down to James in Bristol?!

Thanks

Peter

Edinburgh

ps - after 12+ years, I still LOVE my 300ZX!

The solenoids break down. It could be a sign that it's on its way out. Mine quit on me by periodically not even turning over.

 

I invested in a brand new OEM. I figured the original lasted 27 years, so there's no reason this new genuine one won't last the same amount of time.

 

I haven't heard the best things from reconditioned units and I certainly wouldn't bother with a used one.

Thanks for that - yes, as 28 years work I can't complain. Can you recommend a purchase channel? Nissan main dealers seem to have outrageously high prices. Worth importing direct from USA (ie Courtesy)?? Or is there another UK source for new ones? What is the approx target price I need to condition myself to having to pay?

Its a long time since I took part in the forum, but nice to see its still going strong. And great to see you still active, Jeff (and thanks again for all your help in the past)!

I too have a starter issue, which is why I'm here. Despite battery being A1 (regularly charged), very occasionally the starter will give that worrying sound as though the battery was low. Try it again, and chances were high that it would spin the engine and start as though nothing was wrong. The first time it happened was after a 200 mile run, when I knew the battery was fine. So, other than battery, I suspected either failing pinion drive on the starter, or (worse still) worn teeth on the flywheel. Took the motor off yesterday, checked flywheel - all teeth perfect, with perfect mesh marks. Starter motor pinion teeth fine too. Where does that leave me? I'm suspecting something inside the starter motor, but do I have it rebuilt locally, have it tested by a Nissan garage, buy an OEM, or send it down to James in Bristol?!

Thanks

Peter

Edinburgh

ps - after 12+ years, I still LOVE my 300ZX!

 

Good to hear from you Peter and 12+ years of ownership is a big achievement. Hope you get the starting issue fixed and you you join us more often.

I bought mine last year from allcarpartsfast.co.uk for £330. It worked out quite a bit cheaper than getting it from the US. Not everything is cheaper in the US, many parts are cheaper through the right sources in the UK and now that the exchange rate isn't as good as it used to be, it's worth looking at UK sources as well as American.

 

My starter motor too a while to arrive as it came from Japan, it wasn't from European stock so took about 5 weeks to arrive.

I had the exact same problem with mine and I sent it to a local specialist who charged me £90 to overhaul it. When I first took it in, the chap had a quick look and diagnosed that the clutch mechanism for the pinion gear was failing. A few days later and it was back on and back to full fighting strength!

 

Nice one Joely P,

 

Devvny, don`t write of recondition units, there is solid industry built around these and alternator rebuilds, the technical merit of a full overall should be as good as new, hence 12 months warranty and a nice wad of cash left in your pocket.

 

Jeff

'Should' yes....it all depends on the quality of components used, the extent of the rebuild and also the person rebuilding them. They fail much more frequently than brand new OEM ones.

 

I was surprised when Joel had his reconditioned. Hope it lasts for you dude. I'm sure it will. I didn't wanna risk it personally and for peice of mind, I went with a new one whilst you could still buy them. :)

Useful info there - thanks all. Reconditioned versus new? As you say, it comes down to the quality of workmanship on a recon unit. This is where recommendations come in. Any advance on London Essex Auto Electrics?? Or indeed, how do you judge a quality recon outfit?

Based on the fact that I had to take mine back I’ll let you come to your own conclusion on that!

 

Upon fitting the overhauled unit, it wasn’t until installing the heat shield that I realised the separate mounting bracket at the rear of the starter motor wasn’t properly secured. The bolt was torque sealed but clearly not torqued and when I proceeded to tighten the bolt it just turned in the hole. The bolt also acts as the main body mount bolt joining the 2 parts together and as it’s quite a long bolt, I couldn’t remove it as it fouls on the car body.

 

I removed the starter again (which is a bit of a pain with an aftermarket exhaust system and the heat shield installed) to investigate and when I removed the bolt the entire thread had been stripped! The company were very apologetic and rectified the defect in a timely fashion but it certainly put me off recommending them. I made sure that the whole thing was opened up again to remove any swarf/thread debris and check the casing thread (which was fine).

 

I would normally recommend that components are sourced only from the OEM, especially with dimension critical parts or parts where quality of material to could adversely affect the health of the engine/safety. However, in the case of a starter motor, with it being such a simple component, I was happy to take a punt at a rebuild unit lasting a significant chunk of what an OEM unit at 4x the price would.

 

There are many specialists that will overhaul your starter for you so maybe just search locally and choose one with good reviews.