i know it's not a z, but you guys seem to have some fairly extensive tech knowledge, and i've no clue what the hell is up...

 

went to start my bm, and, well, it didn't. it's been sitting on the drive undriven for a bit so i though that it could be the battery, swapped it for a new one - and still nothing. well, thats the limit of my mechanical knowledge ;o(

 

the starter motor appears to be working, as i can hear it when trying to start the car, but the engine doesn't turn over. if the starter was knackered could i expect to have seen some other symptoms? or is it possible that a cable may have popped off (please let it be this).

 

i know it pretty vague and o.t. but i'd really appreciate any help anyone could offer, before i have to sign my life away to the bmw $tealer ;o)

 

ben

ok so this may sound dumb but r u sure theres fuel in it? What noise does it make when u turn the key?

you can hear the starter motor, but the engine doesnt turn over ?

 

so, you can hear it clicking ? grinding ? or trying to turn the car over ?

no - no clicking, no grinding, no turn over.

 

the noise is somewhat hard to describe. it's basically the noise of the starter with no engine turn over (really unhelpful i know) - a sort of loud electric motor sound.

 

and yes, theres about half a tank full of petrol...though i wish it was down to my stupidity

Several possibilities. First the starter motor may be siezed and need a bit of a clump with a big mallet to wake it up. Could also be a problem with the solenoid, or one of the high current cables from the battery has a bad connection. Check them both. (both ends)

Almost deffo the brushes on the starter motor stuck if I understand the description right. You could actually be hearing the fuel pump priming the system and not the starter motor.

 

If it is stuck brushes then a light 'tap' on the housing of the starter should loosen then off.

 

One other thought - is it an auto? If so are you sure it was in the correct position for starting? Also if it is an auto, it could be the start inhibitor switch gone knackered.

 

Does it have an immobiliser? If so what type? Does it have to be reprogrammed if the power is lost? (catch my drift??? )

 

Just a few ideas to keep you going.....

 

CheerZ,

 

Andy

 

Keep us posted and I'll keep thinking....

hitting it with a mallet? can i give i a good kicking instead? ;o)

 

i'll give it a try if i can work out where the damn thing is ;o(

 

it's not an auto. and it's a clifford alarm, and hadn't lost power before i disconnected the battery (to my knowledge at least - plus it is un-arming the immobiliser)

 

thanks for all the suggestions. I'll try and get some more answers ;o)

 

oh - and craig, so sorry to hear about your car. similar thing happened to me a while back, plus they stole all my ice too - and the police just say things like "you should go to the local car boot sale, it'll probably be there" - assholes - isn't that their job?

A quick test to see if its a bad connection or too much load on the starter - put the lights on before you try and start the car - if the lights virtually go out the there is something stalling the starter or the battery is dead... Not the best test in the world but could give you a clue to the whereabouts of your problem.

 

CheerZ,

 

Andy

the lights do dim a bit, but no more than normal, certainly not practically out.

 

interestingly (or not), when I just tried to start it, as I turned the key, everything went dead, lights out, everything. Took key out slammed door and the alarm light came back on. opened the door and everything was back to normal (apart from still not starting of course). Seems like there may be some electrical gremlins.

 

ultimate driving machine my arse.

my brother's bm used to do exactly the same thing, it would go completely dead over a sudden, give it a jump start and then it be be fine till the next time..........very strange.

 

Vijay

have you tried checking the battery terminals for looseness, or the earth strap on the body to the battery??

Battery - output.

 

It may show 12v but it's the cranking amps that are important, strangely enough I had this on the Elise, turned the key but it refused to turn over, linked in another battery and 'hey presto' it started.

 

Tim

 

[This message has been edited by TT Tim (edited 30-10-2001).]

hmmm....i gave up and called the aa (my girlfriend needed to get to work). The guy did some crazy things...but eventually took some of the plugs out and did a compression test. 70psi. He informs me that this should be closer to 200 ;o(

 

also he managed to start it by keeping the ignition on for a good couple of minutes (i'll send the bill to the aa when the starter pops later this week) and since then it's been fine. Infact it starts better now than it used to.

 

It's gone to the garage today for some suspension work - but I guess that there be some fallout from this too ;o(

 

I'd try running on optimax if I could get it in the flipping thing.

 

TT Tim - you still got the elise? Am thinking about getting one - but it may leave my options a bit short if I had a choice of an elise and a 300 on the drive (given the impractical nature of the elise and the reliability issues of the z). Probably should get something small and sensible for a runabout instead - maybe a r5 GTT ;o)

 

Thanks for all the help - it's nice to be able to get some ideas as to what's up - if anyones interested, i'll keep you posted as to the outcome - but I appreciate it is NZR.

 

ben

Do not buy an Elise unless:

 

You have a garage.

Have no back problems.

Don't want to park in a car park, you can park but you wont be able to get out of the car. lol

Own a bilge pump.

Never want to carry anything larger than a PC case.

Have a degree in oragami to put the roof up.

 

On the plus points:

 

Fantastic fun, beats the 300 round the country lanes.

45mpg even when you're having fun.

Fantastic looks, Mk1, IMHO, don't like the facelift.

Plastic body pannels reasonably cheap to replace.

Wonderful track day car.

Most rewarding car I've ever driven.

 

I had 2 as company cars in 2000, my other half and I covered about 40K in 12 months in them. Reasonably trouble free, other than a head gasket going big time on the M25.

 

Tim

there may b a tooth missing on your fly wheel worm gear if so put it in gear anf role the car forward this will turn the engine over and if there is a tooth missing it will have moved to a place with teeth and should start