- This topic has 13 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 2 months ago by
.
-
Topic
-
So the other day I was driving my car, all good. I parked it overnight, next day I get in to go to work, no crank, no nothing. Just the faintest click coming from the engine bay and some noise from the fuel pump. I immediately tried the headlights trick to check if they are running fine while I attempt to start the car and they were. All of the lights inside and the headlights work perfectly without dimming when I attempt to start the car, which immediately led to conclude the problem is a bad starter. I got a new starter with a new solenoid and installed it, double checking if all the wires are in good condition and they were, all of them look like brand new. This morning I hooked everything back together, the car still won’t crank. My car is a manual and has no starter relay, it is a direct connection from the battery to the starter and then to the alternator. I took the battery out now and connected it to a charger to see what happens, but it is a new quality battery only 1,5 year old so I really don’t think that is the problem.
Any ideas?
My car is a BMW 328i (2000) manual
-
Replies
-
I forgot to mention that there is none. It was removed years ago as it pisses me off. The car is now able to start without pressing the clutch at all.
In that case,
Start looking at the basics.
Check any and all fuses,
Obviously your not getting voltage to the solenoid ( or you got a faulty starter ) from there you’ll need a wiring diagram to begin trouble shooting the ignition circuit.
Could be:
A bad / broken connection / wire ( check for voltage drop )
A faulty ignition switch.
Being that it is a BMW there may be other safeties with in the starter circuit.
Again a wiring diagram will be needed.I will do that next. I just check the battery, it is sitting at 12.8V and still nothing. My best bet is ignition switch, but will check if there is power going to the starter first.
Careful.. your tinkering with a BMW…
There appears to be other systems that could be the issue.
Such as the Immobilizer:Also the on board security system:
So don’t be in a hurry to do swaptronics, on a beamer it get very expensive very quickly.
So the plot thickens… The click that have been hearing before and after the replacement of the starter is not coming from the solenoid. This is a bust, because I changed an already working starter for a new one… silly me… Still this points to the right direction, as there is no power going to the solenoid at all. As I am not that good with electronics and wiring diagrams I have booked an appointment with my local mechanics for next week. His best bet after hearing my story and findings is the ignition switch, but I am beginning to think otherwise as I have had no problems with the radio and climate control which seem to be linked to ignition switch and tend to play up if the switch is on its way out.
Anyway, we’ll see when I get the car back.
Your battery, as new as it is, could still be the problem. The brightness of the lights has little to do with correct voltage for starting. Have a free load test done on it. The voltage you register is not necessarily the same voltage when it cranks.
I don’t deal with BMW very often, but there are numerous models such as Ford that will not allow the engine to turn over at all if the voltage is a hair too weak.Don’t over look something simple like an engine ground that has ended up getting disconnected.
A lot of starters ground themselves through the block.
All ground connections seem fine, I still did clean them up though hoping that it will make a difference, but still nothing.
A little update is that I got a brand new battery from a friend. He has like 5 so it’s not a big deal. Still no crank at all. So I decided to test the old starter and solenoid assembly. I hooked it up the external battery and it worked just fine, so it is safe to assume that the new one does as well, and there never was a problem with the starter itself. What is left now is ignition switch, wiring from ignition switch to the starter and possible EWS problems.
you have a another key you might try and use it to start the vehicle. I have seen keys go bad on these and the immobilizer will not let the vehicle crank. simple test. If it starts you know your key is bad.
[quote=”Analog” post=176661]My car is a manual and has no starter relay, it is a direct connection from the battery to the starter and then to the alternator.[/quote]
There has to be a starter relay somewhere in the system. If you didn’t have a relay, you’d have thick battery cables going to your ignition switch, which isn’t the case.
What you describe sounds like the classic symptom of a failed relay.
My car does not have a separate relay for the starter, but rather it is called “main relay” and it also controls a couple of other systems. I checked the voltage going to the ignition switch and it was fine, but long and behold after the switch, the yellow/green wire which is going to the starter has a voltage which is considerably lower than what it is supposed to. I cleaned the ignition switch by taking it apart and the car started, finally. Conclusion is a faulty ignition switch. Anyway, at least I got my car running after all. 🙂
[quote=”Evil-i” post=176778]There has to be a starter relay somewhere in the system. If you didn’t have a relay, you’d have thick battery cables going to your ignition switch, which isn’t the case.[/quote]
A lot of starters (all the ones I’ve seen on passenger cars anyway) have the relay and solenoid in one, direct battery connection in for power, thin control wire that goes to the ignition switch.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.