Non starting 1.6 sigma

[Mattygooner]

We are in the final stages of a caterham 1.6 Sigma 270SV but it will not start!

We tried to start it when the engine went in and all the ancillaries were connected but got a slow, lethargic turnover, the positive cable got very hot and having checked all earths, put it on the back burner and finished the rest.

With the car very nearly complete we have attempted to start it again, but get nothing from the starter motor at all, doesn't even attempt to turnover.

What we do know:

The immobiliser activates and appears to deactivate with the fob
The fuel pump primes with the ignition key turned and the car has around 22 litres in it
The battery is fully charged and giving a healthy output
The earths that are in the engine bay on the bulkhead and the bell house are checked.

The car just doesn't attempt to turnover, the red cable to the solenoid was getting hot when it was turning over very slowly, but now it doesn't but the starter isn't doing anything right now.

Any advice going forward? As you can imagine, at the end of a relaxing build, for it not to start is quite frustrating!

Thanks in advance.

[Mattygooner]

No joy, the engine earth seem ok, it's strange that we have gone to a hot red cable and slow turnover to having nothing now, it was all supposed to be brand new!

One thing I have noticed is, having read that someone had a loose connection to his rev counter that prevented it from starting is this thing photo' above which is plugged in to something in the dashboard. It is extremely hot when the ignition is on

Edited by Mattygooner on Tuesday 22 August 17:22

[Mattygooner]

Here is where it is located.

Clutching at straws here I know.

[Mattygooner]

Sadly not, but having another crack this afternoon with some beers of contemplation, anything to take our minds of the bloody IVA bits!

The engine cranks freely.

The inertia switch doesn't make a satisfying click but have tried it many times having pressed it. My understanding is that the inertia switch would still allow it to turnover but not have spark in order to fire. We are sadly not getting it to turn over at all.

The earths were our initial thoughts, but we have checked them all many times.

We have an earth going from the battery to the bellhousing and an earth from the battery to the bulkhead. Tried it with one form the bellhousing to the engine mount as well.

We think it might have burnt out a sensor somewhere which is subesequently telling the ECU not to turnover.

It's bloody frustrating.

[Mattygooner]

We actually used that high def image of the starter and solenoid when checking everything, we also emailed it off to Caterham to double check.

Tried another healthy battery that was fully charged to rule that out.

Tried to get the starter out, but one of the top bolts was just to hard to get to with where we are with the build.

Will concentrate on trying to test out as much as possible with the starter and solenoid in the next session, but sadly it may need to be resolved by Caterham prior to testing.

[Mattygooner]

I thought a quick update was in order as the car was picked up by caterham 2 weeks ago to be prepared for the IVA and the non starting issue resolved. It was the starter motor that was the culprit, annoying as it was a brand new car build and that faulty new product robbbed us of the ceremonial first start.

The test was Friday morning, and we were looking forward to hearing it for the first time, let alone driving it for the first time. It was an early start and trip down to the test centre, seeing it role out the back of the van was great, although I thought it strange that hey had changed the wheels but I know they change bits and pieces ready for the test. As I got closer I realised they had also changed the front wings for carbon ones as well, maybe to accommodate the bigger wheels.

It was time for it to go in the test, so I jumped in the seemingly different interior and tried to fire it up when I was reminded to turn the kill switch that we didn't have in our build, and check the gearbox with an extra gear to the one we put in, was not in gear....... yes, they brought the wrong car!

A couple of frantic calls by the driver later, and a quick apology and chat with the tester followed and caterham were going to drive our car down to the test. An hour later and it went in the test only to fail on a couple of minor items that caterham will sort out in the coming days.

All in all a bit of a pain In the arse, not only could we not start it up for the first time but not drive it for the first time, although a quick 1 minute blat around the test centre to get it ready to go back to caterham was enough to know that when it is ready, it will be a hell of a lot of fun, and that made all the other crap seem ok!