Caterham won't start

[Scuba7]

Have a 1999 VVC roadsport that will not start.

Symptoms are
Only a click is heard when the ignition is fully turned
Battery fully charged. Battery light and fuel guage move when ignition turned
20A ECU fuse in passenger foot well is fine
when switching off imobilizer the light flashes rapidily until the ignition is partially turned, at whcih poit light stays off. This is a change as I am sure it used to go off straight away.

Any ideas ?

[casbar]

Sounds like its the famous K click. Starter motor is either goosed or the starter relay wires are cooked so they are not passing enough current to the starter.

Do a search on Blatchat, Techtalk under K click, all will be revealed.

[sjmmarsh]

It is worth putting it in a high gear (ignition OFF) and rocking the car back and forward to see if the starter gear is jammed. Try starting after that with the car moved to a different position.

I agree it sounds like the K-click though. If it is, is should bump start easily.

One other thing to check is the battery health - it may show 12.8V, but could have been damaged in the past and is not holding enough charge to start the car. Try putting the lights on full - do they stay bright or dim pretty quickly? If you can, measure the voltage drop when starting the car. One of my friends had a battery that looked fine, but dropped to 7v when the starter was pressed. Under a light load it was fine.

Steve

[samurikid]

Mine did exactly this - check the starter motor connections, and try it again ......

[IcklePete]

Does it do it when hot or cold, or both...

[Scuba7]

haven't been able to get it started to get it hit to find out

[sjmmarsh]

.. in which case it is probably not the K-click problem as that normally only affects the car when the engine is hot (an embarassing pain at a petrol station..)

Have you got access to another battery? That will eliminate the battery as the problem (alternatively turn the headlights on and tell us what happens to them as you try to turn it over).

After that it is worth taking the starter out (about a 20 min job, assuming you have a suitable stubby spanner for the top nut near the engine block) and checking the solenoid as the wires can fracture inside the unit (about £45 to replace from a electrical motor factor) or replace the whole unit (£120-ish from Caterham).

Did you try rocking the car in gear?

Steve

[7SS]

I've suffered the click on my car this as have many others. It's a major PITA & a well documented Caterham problem. There are several possible issues varying from loose wiring to completely goosed motor. The best & most concise advice I've seen is on the Jock Sevens boards, join up here

http://scottishsevens.proboards28.com/index.cgi

and search tech chit chat for the "death click" thread. Have a read & get the multi meter out. This should give you an idea what the problem is.

Cheers

7SS

[Scuba7]

putting in gear and moving did not work. Will try the above link. Thanks

[gedG]

On mine the connection post on the solenoid came very slightly loose, giving the wire a waggle always got it going.

[CanAm]

My problem was also with a cold engine; it never was a problem when hot. It turned out to be the solenoid. A quick fix until I had time to fix it was to 'hot wire' direct from the battery +ve terminal to the starter ( ignition ON, making REALLY sure the car was in neutral).
Another problem area is the brown wire from battery to solenoid which often fractures internally due to heat from the exhaust manifold