Starting problem...

[drewr]

Hey guys,

I've got a problem, the other week i did a little bit of tidying up in the engine bay in which i removed some of the wires that appeared to be leading no where. Now i've gone to start it up and am not getting anything? I can hear the fuse tick when i turn the key, but that's about it. I can't hear the starter motor tick etc.

The electrics in the cabin seem to be working, i still get headlights/indicators/radio etc. I've tested the battery in my other mk1 golf and it seems to be able to kick it over.

What should i be looking at/doing???

-Drew.

[Bflat]

Ctrl Z?? lol

In all seriousness though it could be a grounding issue maybe? My last car was nightmarish with that sort of problem.

I'm sure the answer will come to you through here.

Best of luck

[gldgti]

yeah, check your earth cables. need good earth from batt to the gearbox and always pays to make sure theres good earth between the gb and the engine. sometimes there isnt.

[GRN_VAGN]

ive got the stock earth wire that goes to chassis then Gearbox, also got one going to the top bolt on starter motor, and one to the strut mount bolt on the tower... i dont think ill have earth problems

worth doing anyway

[drewr]

Well, still not starting!

I've checked the earths, have one from the (-) terminal to the mount on the gearbox. 1 from the (-) terminal to the strut tower. Then a brown small one from the (-) terminal to somewhere i think in the headlight area.

I have 1 cable going from the top bolt on the starter motor to the (+) terminal. Do the starters earth from the back? But regardless, it has started prior to this. It just seems like somethings happened when i've removed these couple of wires, but i can't see how because they where just dead wires that went no where! Possibly just a coincidence, i don't know?

Could it be fuses? They all look OK to me, but it just seems that the starter isnt receiving power, it doesn't click or anything. Does anyone have a link where i can find a good early bullet style fuse chart for the mk1? I've had a long look and can't find anything!

[drewr]

I've just tried putting an earth wire from the bottom bolt of the starter motor (the one with the built in earth) to the chassis/gearbox. Still no luck. Nothing at all...just the ticking fuse...

[sports racer]

Hope you have a manual and not automatic and you're not trying to start it in Drive. Don't laugh. I knew someone who drove 200 ks to rescue his sister when all she had to do was put it in Park. Get some jumper cables and connect direct from the battery to the starter motor - make sure you connect to the right places or you'll get lots of sparks. Try to start the car with the key (making sure that it's out of gear). If nothing happens you've killed the skinny wire that runs from ignition to the starter motor. If the starter motor works you have to remove the jumper cables, take off the +ve cable at the battery and at the starter motor and thoroughly clean both ends as well as the cable that runs from chassis to motor. If you've killed the wire that runs from the ignition bypass it directly from the starter motor to the battery (again making sure it's out of gear otherwise you'll run yourself over). If it works follow the skinny wire all the way from the starter to the ignition barrel and see if you have a damaged wire. Also check to see if you have voltage at the barrel.

[drewr]

Thanks Sports racer,

No it's a manual mate! So no problems there. I have heard of that happening though! lol.

I brought a new lead to go from the starter to the +ve today, as well as a new terminal. I also took off all the earths and gave them a bit of a rub back. Still no luck doing that..

I have tried jumping the starter with my battery pack with no luck. I will defiantly give that a go tomorrow and bypass the skinny wire (There's a green cable and a red with black stripes, i'm assuming the red with black stripes is the +ve as the connections aren't marked). When i bypass the wire to the battery, will/if it starts do so by turning the key? Or as a result of it bypassing the wire need to be jumped or something?

I'm also going to try and get my hands on a multimeter tomorrow so I can test the starter, and also may put the battery on charge for a bit just to make sure the charge is ok. Failing that It may just be a buggered starter, i took it off the car today and used my battery pack to test it. I earthed the black lead out obviously and then tapped the positive on the corresponding tab on the starter and got nothing. It just seems odd to me as i've never had a starter just die instantly pretty much, they've always gone through a stage of kinda clicking first before they die, i never had that with this one, it's just gone silent!

Ah well, couple more things to try tomorrow, fingers crossed!

-Drew.

[sports racer]

I earthed the black lead out obviously and then tapped the positive on the corresponding tab on the starter and got nothing.

That's not how starter motors work but you're half way there. Leave the black and red lead on the casing and the +ve tab on the starter solenoid. You then need to run another wire (or a screwdriver) across the 2 terminals on the solenoid. That's what triggers the starter motor.

[drewr]

OK i've made progress.

Today, i swapped the starter from my other MK1 (has a mk2 gti engine in it, but the motor looks/is the same). Surely enough it didnt start.

So i went and got a soldering iron, plus some new plugs. I soldered on a new plug to the Red/Black (+ve) lead and VOILA. It does fire the starter. HOWEVER, it fires when i hook up the positive battery terminal...not when I turn the key. And it fires the motor as soon as i thouch the lead on the terminal, and wont stop untill i've removed the lead from the terminal.

Now, i have the black/red wire going to the highest plug (on the firewall side of the positive lead) and the green plug on the lower side. I also have an earth from the lowest terminal to the chassis earth. IS THIS CORRECT???? Can someone check theres and let me know???

I'm so close, yet so far! haha.

-Drew.