Me disco wont start!

[Yoshi]

Just been out and tried to start the disco and it wouldnt go.  Wouldnt even click the starter motor, there is plenty of power in the battery as its running the lights and windscreen washers absolutely fine, but the there is also a click somewhere in the front passenger corner of the cab when i turn the key to actually start it.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Dan

P.s. its a 1989 200TDi

[AbyssDJ]

if the solenoid is clicking then it sounds like the starter is playing up - lamp it with a crowbar a couple of times then try it again

[Oz]

not to hard tho :lol:

[chris9119]

Dan

If your not getting the starter to spin and engage, try attaching another earth cable...... If when you turn the key the clock, etc, go off, then its probably a bad earth.

Chris

[extreme90]

make sure the little white and reb ( afink) wire hasnt dropped off the spade terminal on the starter soleniod if not
tap the starter solenid with a hammer and try agian
if still no joy itll proberly be the starter pinion siezed or semi siezed onto its shaft

[Yoshi]

Cheers guys i will look at that tomorrow.

In answer to the clicking, its a single click inside the cab, not the continous clicking you get if there isnt enough battery power etc.......

Also it has been making a noise when the engine has started, almost like the starter still runs for a second after firing.

[extreme90]

Cheers guys i will look at that tomorrow.

In answer to the clicking, its a single click inside the cab, not the continous clicking you get if there isnt enough battery power etc.......

Also it has been making a noise when the engine has started, almost like the starter still runs for a second after firing.

starter pinion has siezed up onto its shaft, mine doest it all the while...every 2 months or so
remove the starte and free it off on the shaft, i use wd40 at first to free it by hitting it with a hammer and screwdriver then as it frees of i use a battery on the starter
then when its nice and free i stick some copper slip onto the shaft  :lol:  :lol: ( no bright ideas mike  :roll:   :lol: )
and that'll cure it
dan

[bullfrog]

Could be the starter relay clicking in the cab.
They suffer with imobiliser problems.
This is an easy fix  

[FlagonSlayer]

Sounds like it could well be a problem with the spider immobiliser - had the same thing/symptoms on mine.  Trouble is it tends to be intermittent and can then finally pack up altogether which means either replacing it or, better still, fitting a replacement bypass harness.  

It is a bit of a swine to get to though on a Discovery - but have a look at this link.... spidys

[Yoshi]

Cheers for that, but i found another couple of problems, first i couldnt locate the starter motor on the engine, second there was no actual relay plugged into the yellow relay holder or the one next to it (there are 4, 1 has one in 2 and 3 dont but 4 does), but outside on the bulkhead in the engine bay there is a relay PRC6913.

So at this point i am kinda stuck as i cant check a relay that isnt there! lol

[gtomo2]

Have you tried to rock the car in gear with the handbrake off. had it on one of my cars and it was the starter ring in the gearbox that had a couple of teeth missing and would lock the starter motor if it caught the wrong part of the starter ring and hit the missing teeth bit.

[Yoshi]

Havent tried that no mate, am thinking its electrical cos its not even trying to push anything, its just getting nothing at all when i turn the key.

[extreme90]

i have it all the time the click is the starter solenoid trying to throw the stater pinion out but it cant cos its siezed
symptoms..
a click and no go
all lights dim down
the starter is situated underneath the exhaust manifold to the right hand side of the turbo
itll be hidded behind a stupid heat sheld that should be binned  :roll:
if there was a relay missing then it would have never worked from day one  

[gtomo2]

Havent tried that no mate, am thinking its electrical cos its not even trying to push anything, its just getting nothing at all when i turn the key.

Yea thats what i use to get as the starter was trapped by the teeth it would not turn the starter just click the relay

[bilge rat]

iff its a 300 id say spider prob, best way to check . id pull the pipe off from the turbo rearmost one , so you can see the starter , then bridge the small wire to the large positive terminal. the car should turn over , (so watch ya fingers) ign on it should start, then push the turbo pipe on , this will eliminate the starter, so easy enough to try first. iff its still no go then you have more than likely a starter fault. iff you think its the starter fault you could then try jump leads to the starter to eliminate bad earths or bad connections. cheers alan......

[Yoshi]

Ok, went out to it this morning and it started, i have done nothing to it whatsoever, then when i was in morrisons same thing happened again, turned the radio off and tried starting it and it worked :-s

Now i really am confused!

[landroverkeith]

just a "quirk" patch has m8  :lol:  mine has many!

[suggs]

i get this with mine too, normaly after driving through deep water off road, as has been said remove the starter clean the shaft and lub it up :shock: . check all conections especialy the earth to the chassis

the soilnoid under the bonnet is i think the glow plug one, it could be the actuator in the starter thats gone, this tends to play up when the cars warm. it will start from cold fine go down the road stop for fuel and wamo the git wont start till it cools down. if its that then get a new starter.

if yours is a 200 series then its a mission to get too the starter, the 300 is easy...

[Yoshi]

I dont know what it is, when it wouldnt start it was cold, also i did absolutely nothing to it when it started working again!

I have seen the location of the starter motor now and it does look like a pig to get to, so hoping it will just work from now on, if it goes again then i am going to take the starter off and just see how it goes.

Does anyone know if the wires connect to it at the front (the bit you can see) or elsewhere?  I havent even removed the heat shield yet, would this be something i would need to refit?

[suggs]

the connections should be on the front pointing towards the front of the car, this fault is a pain as it just seems to be ok then it will do it again. the times i thought i had found it, it wouldnt start so changed the starter relay and it started thought i had sussed it then a few days later it played up..

do you get full dash lights when it wont start? if not then its probley the silly spade connection on the starter thats loose a very common fault.

what i did was remove the starter and clean all connection theres an earth cable going down to the chassis from the starter, un bolt it and give it a wire brush, i found the shaft and cog to be a bit rusty (surface rust) so wd40 it so its clean then i put a small amount of greese on the shaft. mines been ok for a few months now except after Biling last week were it whent through a lot of water, on the way home after a stop it played up but did start after a few attempts and been fine since.

one symptom i get from time to time is a small pause between turning the key and the starter turning over about a second but you do notice it.

the other thing i found that if it wont go then a jump start does the trick, must be the extra burst of power, one of those little jump start packs you see for sale will probley do it..

thats Landys for ya mate...

cheers

[extreme90]

suggs use copperslip, grease is too thick to get behind the pinion, my 90 is a royal ...load of (french words)  :lol: for it  :roll:
found that its best either left dry or copper slip nuffin else

badgers....i leave the heatshield off mine as its easy acces then and if some bright spark says it wrecks the starter due to heat then let them say it  :roll:  mines been like this from day one of it being built and its still ok  :roll:  + if heat nackerd them then damn my winches must be jiggered  :roll:

[Yoshi]

Think she is fixed now, it happened today and i didnt have time to muck about so called the AA man, he put a new connector on the wire to the solenoid and all is well, the old one was [!Expletive Deleted!] and stuff so hopefully this is a permanent fix :D