Still not starting right....

[BikerGran]

Often when I start up from cold, the engine turns over very slowly, as if the battery was low, although she usually does start. But if I take the battery off to charge it up, it's apparent that it isn't low - the charging rate only goes up a little, and it takes very little time to drop right back.

All the connections are tight as far as I can tell.

Any ideas?

[mike maestro]

hi bobbi have you checked all the earth returns and made sure they are clean and making good contact or maybe the starter motor brushes are worn or sticking causing bad contact and last might be starter relay
hope it helps rgds mike maestro

[tony]

how old is your battery?they lose there efficiency over time. 5 years is a good time to start thinking of a new one
Also how long has the starter motor been on the car they do last well but do take a little more power the older they get. (bit like us all).
as as above(or is it below) it's allways worth checking all the cables have good clean connections , earth connections as well.

[D87 SMW]

As Tony said really. The battery on my Maestro appears fully charged but the engine turns over slowly. I think for older batteries it will do this in the cold. I've never had the car 'not start' since I started driving it though.

:spanner:

[BikerGran]

I really don't think it's the battery - as I said, it doesn't appear to nedd charging and it's only just over a year old.

Have checked the connections and they are all tight.

The starter motor afaik is the original one but the car has only done 42000 miles. Where's the starter relay then? I had to replace one relay when I first had the car - can't remember the technical term but it's the one that won't let the car start if it's in drive (automatic gearchange).

[B18 GPC]

My mates corvette does this on start up quite often.. il ask him if he knows what causes it.. {well its the engine its turning over that causes..} but what he did / does to solve it

Graham

[B18 GPC]

Igniction smith , lazy starter , or earths ...


check amps down at the starter...





If u have duff oil , it could be thick also.. giving bad starting + turnover of the engine.

Graham

[mike maestro]

hi just had athought i once had this prob with my dlx and found that asin your case the battery was nearly new its out put was on the limit of its max amps and in cold weather martini was sluggish turning over i fitted another higher capacity battery and the engine spun over as if it was not there and this cured the problem altogether rgds mike maestro

[e692wtt]

I really don't think it's the battery - as I said, it doesn't appear to nedd charging and it's only just over a year old.

Have checked the connections and they are all tight.

The starter motor afaik is the original one but the car has only done 42000 miles. Where's the starter relay then? I had to replace one relay when I first had the car - can't remember the technical term but it's the one that won't let the car start if it's in drive (automatic gearchange).

My Monty does this trick... he's never not started due to battery problems but in very cold weather the engine turns over slowly (1.6 engine).

On the S-series with VW 'box, the Starter Relay is the Starter Solenoid on top of the Starter Motor itself. I've found this (and its mechanism) to be a lot less reliable than the Motors themselves... :banghead:

Try taking the starter motor off and oiling the bush inside the aluminium adaptor housing (between engine and 'box) on VW 'boxed cars, the bush that the starter motor spindle locates in. I find that makes a difference :) .

[BikerGran]

Mine's S series but auto box - is the same?

[e692wtt]

D'oh! 'Course it's an Auto 'box :o .

The Starter Motor + Solenoid combo will be the same, with the Solenoid mounted 'piggy back' on the Motor, regardless of engine and 'box on a Maestro and Montego.

[Jack]

I had a similar problem on a diesel Fiesta once. Turned out to be a lazy stater motor and one thing was apparent - it turned over faster when warm. Not sure why but if yours turns over better when warm then this could be a cause perhaps?

[H48HPE]

My starter used to turn slowly even with the battery just charged, when I swaped the battery it was fine and the starter turned much quicker, been fine ever since for 3 years now.

You could have a bad battery? Is it a sealed for life one? the old battery in my car was one you had to top up. if youve over charged it you could have buckled the plates inside the battery up and that will effect its persormance, also if the electrolyte had been boiling up during charging it could have run low?

I've never charged up my current battery in the 3 years since I put it on, the car has done less than 1000 miles a year for the past 2 years, and sits for between 1 week and a month without being used ( I only use it at weekends and dont use it every weekend)..... it's obviously got good wiring with no leaks or dodgy pieces of equipment and the battery (unipart) must be a good one. Therefore I can recomend Unipart batteries if you were thinking of a replacement, I think mines a 65 amp hour one (but I'm not 100% sure)

Andy

[e692wtt]

I use a Battery place local to me (Delta Batteries), had no problems with the several batteries they have supplied over the last decade or so (for different cars, not due to faulty batteries :laugh: ).

Heat from charging with a high current can cause battery plates to buckle - charging at a low rate for too long will just cause loss of electrolyte which can also cause problems with low battery capacity.

I prefer batteries that I can top up, to be honest.