Cold start problems.. first post, be gentle.

[Purple Monster]

Hi all,

First off I'd like to say that I've been reading this forum like a book for the past few months and I reckon that it has the most knowledgeable members of any car forum I've used. You've already saved me a lot of unnecessary knuckle scraping..

Right, flattery over..!

My 5.0 has developed cold start issues whereby I can hear the starter solenoid engage but the starter wont turn. At first, it would finally start at the 3rd or 4th attempt and then be fine all day until the next morning when the problem would reappear.
After being tucked up for a few weeks, I came to start it again and the ignitions lights went out! I checked the ignition circuit fuse, it was fine. Checked all fuses and found the 15A horn fuse was blown. Replaced this and ignition lights came on! The starter then proved to be much more stubborn than before but did start (although it did turn very slowly) after 15 mins of persistance.
I'm thinking the first plan of action is to swap the starter motor, possibly for the Prestolite one (does anyone else have a positive experience of the Prestolite motor other than Ballistic Banana?). I'm still a bit confused by the horn fuse blowing, can anyone shed any light on this and/or the general starter problem?

Many thanks..

[groucho]

Griffs are notorious for strater motor problems. I had a new one fitted on mine when I bought it. The heat from the engine kills them I think.

[Phil Dicky]

Purple Monster said:

Hi all, First off I'd like to say that I've been reading this forum like a book for the past few months and I reckon that it has the most knowledgeable members of any car forum I've used. You've already saved me a lot of unnecessary knuckle scraping.. Right, flattery over..! My 5.0 has developed cold start issues whereby I can hear the starter solenoid engage but the starter wont turn. At first, it would finally start at the 3rd or 4th attempt and then be fine all day until the next morning when the problem would reappear. After being tucked up for a few weeks, I came to start it again and the ignitions lights went out! I checked the ignition circuit fuse, it was fine. Checked all fuses and found the 15A horn fuse was blown. Replaced this and ignition lights came on! The starter then proved to be much more stubborn than before but did start (although it did turn very slowly) after 15 mins of persistance. I'm thinking the first plan of action is to swap the starter motor, possibly for the Prestolite one (does anyone else have a positive experience of the Prestolite motor other than Ballistic Banana?). I'm still a bit confused by the horn fuse blowing, can anyone shed any light on this and/or the general starter problem? Many thanks..

I think the problem is your letting the car cool down...don't keep driving and everything will be good in the world.
sorry I've nothing constructive to say...coats on

[steve-v8s]

This sounds to me like a classic “bad earth”. The starter solenoid engages but the motor fails to run because when the earth lead attempts to pass the very large current required a bad joint somewhere along the way simply gets hot rather than passing the current. After you try a few times the heat in the bad joint makes the contact and away you go. Not certain where the main earth point for the engine is but there are several links where wires that bolt onto the chassis. My guess is one of these is loose or rusty.

Having said that, some battery faults can give this symptom where one cell becomes intermittently high resistance and then springs back into life.

Try turning the lights on and then engaging the starter, if the lights dim to nothing then check the battery or battery contacts. If they stay bright but the engine fails to turn over then chances are it is a poor earth connection.

I think the common starter motor problem is normally suffered when hot not from cold.

[raw-sewedge]

I'd 2nd Steve's point about Earths.

There is an earth point on the chassis outrigger in the front drivers side wheel arch that links to the engine.

Checking this one cost nothing and it is prone to working loose and getting covered in sh1t. I've replaced the nuts on mine with nylon locking nuts and applied plenty of copper grease.

Starters a prone to being cooked but as far as I was aware they tend to give up when hot not cold.

[Paul V]

Probably worth cleaning up the earth point on the bottom of the chassis at the end of the passenger footwell, I had the same problem with mine and cleaning the earth fixed it, I actually bought a second-hand starter just encase it failed but have never had to fit it.

[Purple Monster]

Many thanks for the advice about the earth points guys..

Finally had chance to check them today. Bit of scotchbright and some contact cleaner and she started first time! Wish all jobs were this easy..!