Starter Motor

[gerradiuk]

The starter motor has been making strange noise's over the past 2 weeks,on Sunday it almost left us stranded
at a pub car park.
Luckily for me a really nice chap who used to own a TVR got his mate's out & they bumped started us, the extended TVR band of brother's past & present is alive & kicking, thank god!

It is just making a "whirring" noise now no attempt at starting ,so I whipped it out & the small green/blue wire that goes to the solenoid is hanging on by 4 threads, could this possibly be the cause ?

I ask because I just phoned up a few local auto electrical places & the sucking of teeth when TVR was mentioned put me off.

Interestingly I looked through the service records & realised the bugger feeds on them, it had a new one in 2002, 2007 & Oct 2010! My old diesel is on the original after 137,000+ miles?
Its only done 1300 miles since it was fitted !

[Extra 300 Driver]

I am sure its the same as a Nissan Maxima, often much cheaper.

ETA

Part # : Hella. JS754. Not checked though.
Nissan Maxima (3.0 Inj Auto 1988-1994)

If this helps too. The supplier for the ADN 11248 is ADL (01622 833007). They cant sell you one, but they can tell you a local shop.

[gerradiuk]

Thank you Nick very much indeed!
Just phoned ADL & they have given me two contacts both within 2 mile's of me & can get it in 24hrs ! Brilliant & thanks again.

[camel_landy]

I'd try fixing the wires and giving it a go...

FWIW - I think the starter motor is mentioned in the alternative parts listing in the sticky at the top of this section.

M

[NeilH]

Give Top Cats a call - When mine went, they rebuilt the same starter motor with a new clutch - £34 I think from memory for the bits ...

[Steve_T]

An aside and it may already be widely known, but the difference between the two is that the Nissan item is 1.4kW whereas the Tilton Super Starter supplied in the Cerb is 2.5kW.

[mart 63]

My starter went last week,got a new one next day delivery.Hitachi,21 teeth,perfect match and 12 months garuantee,£100+vat.

Mart

[gerradiuk]

Well Mart you got a good deal there! Where was that for future ref?
I have managed to strip the small lead & resolder it,I put a good pair of jump leads on it & have bench tested it & all is working really well?
Very fast motor speed & the solenoid makes the cog engage with a snap! So I guess I should have tested the bloody earth points first!! Well at least I found that one end of the airbox trumpets were cracked so I will rebond that

Hey thanks for the helpful posts chaps!!;)

[G9RGE]

Matt I would be interested to know where from as mine has just given up and the best I can find is £200. Cheers

[G9RGE]

Matt I would be interested to know where from as mine has just given up and the best I can find is £200. Cheers

[gerradiuk]

Make sure you bench test it first & check the small lead to the solenoid, then the earths!

£100 does sound cheap, I shopped around & one place quoted £176 the other £106 ? I think you have to make sure if its the maxima one that it has the correct amount of teeth & the cover is flat & not domed as it will not be any use.

[mart 63]

Its a proper one,the tvr garage couldnt believe how cheap it was.It fitted spot on and the same as the one that came off.If you think its too cheap i could get one and sell it to you for £200 if it would make you feel better.

Clwyd Auto Electrical 01978 762093 part number S114-461 ask for Andy

[gerradiuk]

Wow that's brilliant Mart, if mine does decide to pack up I'll be on to them ,many thanks!!

[gerradiuk]

I found that there is no power in the small wire that goes to the solenoid. Is there a relay or fuse to this that might be at fault ?

[tvrgit]

Fuse no 5 (green 30A) is the solenoid feed.

[gerradiuk]

tvrgit thanks, the fuse in there was a 25amp & was
indeed blown. The new fuse in & still no change , no power to the solenoid ? I suppose the next stop would be the black starter button ?

[Tanguero]

More likely to be the immobiliser. The starter inhibition relay expires with age so the fuel pump will prime etc but the starter circuit remains inactive.

[tvrgit]

gerradiuk said:

tvrgit thanks, the fuse in there was a 25amp & was
indeed blown. The new fuse in & still no change , no power to the solenoid ? I suppose the next stop would be the black starter button ?

Check that fuse again - has it blown again? If the solenoid lead has chafed through and is earthing to the solenoid, the fuse will blow without the starter moving at all. This is exactly what happened to me on Sunday there (That was how I knew right away which fuse to look at!)

If that's ok, then my next step would be to disconnect the solenoid feed, and plug in a direct feed from the battery for a second. If the starter moves, it's the car's wiring (somewhere). If the starter still doesn't budge, then it's the solenoid itself. It's a step, but you can't take anything for granted. Methodical steps are better than guessing and jumping around the car at random.

Then if I had to I would be looking at the relay Tanguero mentions, and the starter button and immobiliser.

[gerradiuk]

The starter has power going to it as it whirrs, the problem seems to be the solenoid is not getting the power.
I have checked the Solenoid relay & it is clicking when the black button is pressed to start,I swapped the relay onto another circuit & the same whirring from the other relay so its getting power there. I cannot seem to get any power from the fuse slot, with the fuse out or with it part way in & the tester probe on the fuse terminal leg...nothing at all? I would have thought the power would go through the fuse then to the relay , does anyone know the layout?

As the relay is clicking & the starter motor is whirring I suppose the black starter switch is functioning OK?

There is a black ignition box on the rear shelf of the tank the top two left & right terminals have power?
What a puzzle?
This problem did not just happen overnight ,I noticed odd noise's from the starter over a wee+ period.

Even though the battery performed well I am going to hook up another battery via some jump leads just to check again as I am running out of idea's.

[Tanguero]

As tvrgit said, jump a direct feed from the battery to the solenoid. If that doesn't make the starter engage then its a solenoid problem. I got a replacement solenoid from fleabay.