Going to pick my new crewcab up tonight and when I went to see it, we could not get it to start. I was told it runs fine but slowly started to struggle to start. We put jump leads on it and it turned over but not fast enough to get any joy only one or two spins. Just after a heads up on what to check first really. I suppose the battery is a good place to start and the earth leads but is there anything else I should be looking for? What s a good order to check things because I have a habit of changing everything to fix one problem. Cheers in advance, I will be able to give you guys a better description of the problem later or tomorrow this is just a preemptive strike really.
Basics really a good battery to start with have you got one to can take and swap over ? Then fuel and spark if you have these two it should start if as stated it does run !!
check all of the battery terminals are clean and corrosion free (starter motor and earths too) just in case
its got no mot so its being lifted back to mine but I do have a proper starter at home so I will rig it up to that and see if there is any joy. I'll be laughing all the way to the bank if its just a dud battery
middle one ,the engine will spin with less resistance [least would be removal of spark plugs]and will conclude the timing is out...if it still turns slow ,its starter/battery/earth problem.. should have said coil ht lead but the 12v wire works just as good..
Right. Got her home and did a bit of tinkering. Changed the starter motor over for one I had in my garage but still the same problem. Slow turning over sounds like a flat battery but the battery is fine. The connections to the battery have been cleaned. The earth strap from gearbox to the body has got a lot of road grime on it so I suppose i should take this off and clean up the connectors. The main live to the starter reads 12v but the spade connector is dirty so I may change that to and see if that helps. Any more thoughts?!?
Three times as likely to be electrical than fuel! Cap off ign on seperate points with a screwdriver , any spark? If yes take a plug out, with lead attached and end of plug resting against engine, get someone to turn it over, any spark at plug? If yes, any fuel getting through? If not sure pour a little bit down the carb and try it , Work through one stage at a time!
When I say slow turning I mean I turning the key and the engine turns for a second or two MAX. and it turning slow like a flat battery
What makes you think the battery is good? If its not turning over fast enough it's either battery starter or wiring. Possibly seized engine . When was it last run ?
if it was me i would try a jump lead from the batt neg to the body and then from the batt neg to the engine this will rule out bad earths. if it still wont start i would flash over the starter with a screwdriver between the pos and the trigger. if it spins over quicker then it could possibly be a bad ignition switch. i am presuming the battery is good and the engine isnt seized
The battery reads 12.6v and has a condition gauge on the top which says its charged. The po said the van just started to get harder and harder to turn over till eventually it he couldn't start it at all. The engine can be moved by hand off the crank so I don't thinks it seized. It was run a couple of months ago the po said it ran well. How can I test the starter?!?
Well you have changed the starter so there's a good chance it's not that , if you using a multimeter to test a battery it won't give you a true answer, you need to do a load test, as Aussie says get some jump leads, positive lead to the van battery the negative lead to the engine or another good earth point on the body, this will bridge any earth problems and give you a battery from a running vehicle that you know is %100, leave the jump leads attached and run the jump vehicle for 10mins or so before trying to start your crewcab, from the info you have given I would be pretty sure than doing all that will have it running.
Put a wire from the spade terminal of the starter back into the engine bay [do not turn ignition on] and touch it against the positive terminal of your battery... if it still turns slow ,turn the crank 4 circles to make sure there is no resistance ,the ultimate test to prove it is starter/battery is take all the plugs out and try it... A long shot it could be the starter bush in the gearbox rusty/seized but it is a long shot..
Has the engine got oil in it What every one else has said With the plugs out does it turns faster Then start bypassing the electrics start with wire from battery to coil then wire from starter solenoid to battery
my guess is swap the battery with aknown good one. I had a landy that did the same thing. it showed a good 12.6v but when underload it was next to useless. 2 or 3 slow revs of the engine. nowhere near fast enough to catch and nowhere near enough juice to sustain any cranking.
does yours have chokes on the carbs? and is it running an alternator or a dynamo?? reason i say is if the PO has been running without chokes then the drain on the battery when starting will begin to take it's toll if you're running an old dynamo. (if that makes sense). Mine doesnt have chokes and can take some time to start on a cold day.
