Maverick '97 2.7tdi - starting problems!

[LouLou]

Our LWB Mav has always been the symbol of reliability even after 140k but yesterday that went out of the window

Went to start it and it tried to start then died. Tried again and it ran fine.

Later that day we went to start it and it would not wind over and fire. Suspected a jammed starter and a tug down the road and off it went. But when the engine was shut down it would not start again. So we bumped it again.

So there is us thinking it was prob a jammed starter motor so we picked up a new Bosch unit and planned to have it fitted on Friday and booked it in. Then a new issue arose. We were driving along and the car air fan/radio/wipers all stopped working? Then found this sometimes co-incided with the failure of the car to start.

Dropped the cowl around the ignition switch to find anything loose and there was nowt obvious. But it starts 2 out of 5 attempts but whatever is causing it could get worse.

Anyone have any ideas before we spend and arm and a leg on what is probably a false lead with the starter assembly?

 

[Deleted Member]

Could this be something to do with the alternator,Electrics dying sounds as though its been running on the battery,could be the starter and the alternator..Hope not!!
I'm sure some one with more experience will be able to help more!! :?

 

[Deleted Member S]

I would check the battery conections as the + leads has a habit of breaking next to the clamp

 

[mav]

Welcome to the club Loulou

Sounds as its electrical and this one maybe worth a look.

http://www.nissan4x4ownersclub.co.u...ums&file=viewtopic&t=3018&highlight=terminals

Mav.

(Sorry Sweety posted just after you)

 

[jace]

if when it starts and u pull battery lead off it cuts out suspect alternator,is there a big starter relay somewhere that could be bit dicky?

 

[jims-terrano]

I have a similar problem but not as often and a friend had same problem, his turned out to be the ignition switch that is screwed on to the bottom of the steering lock. Sometimes when it does start it will run very rough for a couple of seconds and then cut out.

Jim T

 

[LouLou]

Well the car went into the local garage and......it would not not start. Sod's Law? So therefore they could not diagnose the problem. So from this it looks like the switch and not the starter. Pleased with that as the starter was around £180 and can go back

Anyone have a source for a replacement switch unit?

Is it the rear one on the ignition assy or the rectangular lump on the underside of the barrel?

 

[billyweld]

not sure what area your in but if close to shropshire found a good breakers on the welsh border called nissan first phone 01938 555750 for help he breaks all nissans from micras to terranos and anything in between all the best billyweld :roll:

 

[LouLou]

Location as above Billy

I have seen other posts mentioning £15-25 for the switch unit new. Just need to make sure which unit we are talking about and then a source. Or do I try Ford (that's a larff?) or Nissan?

 

[jims-terrano]

Not sure if they will be the same but here's what my switch looks like. It is a black coloured cylinder shape about the size of a cotton reel. It has 2 rows of male spade terminals, 1 row of 3 and the other row has 2 connectors on it. On the other end of the switch it has a white coloured piece of plastic that turns with the ignition barrel, this has a T shaped hole where the ignition barrel fits. On the side of the body it has a small lug with a single screw hole where it fastens to the barrel. The nissan part number is 48750 70J00 and I paid £29.07 inc VAT from a Nissan dealer.

Jim T

 

[LouLou]

Cheers Jim. I'll check out the barrel this morning

PS my partner is G1CLH :wink:

 

[CHASTER]

See above posting by sweety, to which I add;-
Was experiencing sluggish cold cranking. Checked battery; a good beefy one--OK, starter motor is fairly new so that was eliminated.
Had a good look at battery terminals (original flimsy type) and they were physically intact BUT I found that the pinch bolts couldn't tighten the clamps really tightly because there was no clearance between the mating faces of the neg clamp. Found that, even with tight bolt, with a little effort the clamp could be moved on the battery post. So--what SEEMED to be a good connection was causing enough resistance to limit cold start cranking current. I could have created some clearance by filing a gap but don't like the cheapo clamps so I replaced them.
After changing both battery post clamps for the good old solid type the cold cranking became a much more lively affair.
I know this subject has been covered a few times before but thought it is worth stressing that , even though the original clamps are intact and look good, they can still be the cause of hidden problems. Also, there just isn't enough meat on their bones to effectively conduct the enormous cold winter cranking currents of a fairly big D engine.
As stated in workshop 12, it's better to change to solid clamps anyway.

 

[Guest]

Does sound to me like battery terminals. Sometimes it will sometimes it wont. If its not a good tight fit any vibration can loosen, it doesnt take much??

Especially now in the cold it needs more. Ive always copper greased mine and even covered the battery in cold weather??

 

[Whatmot]

dont rule the starter out as a problem. ive only had my mav for a couple of weeks, and its always been a bit slow to turn over: lazy starter. then yesterday after work, i went to start it and nothing. my dad came out a bump started me, drove home and thought maybe it was the battery or alternator. so i left the battery on charge all night, went out this morning and still nothing. battery had lots of life in it. i left for the mechanic my dad knows, he came out and looked at it and declared the starter motor knacked, and its only 18months old!! he fitted a new one this afternoon and the car starts fine now.

as some people have mentioned, check the ignition switch, because again, mine has been replaced in the past before i brought it.

 

[terranokid]

The other thing is the heavy wire pulls out of its connector at the positive battery terminal due to the tight wiring. You need to remove it from the terminal and give it a good tug if it comes off the best thing to do is to solder it back on with a blow torch

 

[LouLou]

Well we fitted a new Bosch battery to Ricardo the Maverick and had a few none starting moments initially but no it has been fine for 3 weeks! Did fiddle with the switch rear connector and gave it a squirt of contact cleaner. Whether this fixed anything or the battery was the cause - who knows. But it is working fine now

 

[LouLou]

Well all chnage with the above. It has gone to rats again! :x

I was abroad and rx'd the call from the GF to say the car won't start. This time even the remote blippers will not work!

So arrived back (she had been slumming it in the Jeep in my absence) and we dropped in the new bats for the remotes. Still nowt doing with them so they prob need resetting.

Next why will it not start? Recovery guy arrived and between us we found the starter was U/S. We shorted the solenoid and....nothing. Power was there and it was clicking on the ignition but nothing doing with the starter. So despite me buying a new starter the other week (and taking it back because it didn't seem to be the problem) it looks like this is the culprit :roll:

Ricardo the Mav now getting a new starter on today and immobiliser reprog'd.

While they are doing that they will also MOT it and give us a quote for a new clutch! 8O

 

[LouLou]

Well we just got Ricardo the Mav back from the garage.

Result was one new starter motor after the original had gone for a burden and this had also burnt out the ignition switch. This was why the switch had been playing up all along and we had the intermittant starting problems (and odd dash power issues).

Now have a sweet running and fatty smelling Mav and now need to sort the clutch slave hose which is perishing; get the clutch done and strip and rebuild the rear brakes as the MOT found one had seized

Paul

 

[jace]

you got your work cut out for you aint the weather for working on motors lol