My 2001 scudo again… Fix It Again Tomoro etc etc. 2.0l JTD/HDI motor.

i turn the key and nothing happens but what i think is the clunk of the solenoid in the starter motor. everything lights up seemingly normally, primer pump etc make normal noises but then ‘clunk’ and nothing happens when i go to start.

i’m thinking starter motor. take off battery and give it a good charge,
clean-up contacts on starter and from solenoid to starter to be sure good connections. give it a tap to dislodge poss stuck brushes?

any other suggestions/ advice. if none of that works what’s my next thing to try?
thanks

Starter motor? Where is your big hammer…

Starter? Bump start it, if it works it’s the starter, if not it’s something else.

DON’T TURN THE KEY TO THE IGNITION POSITION WHEN DOING THIS. The first time I ever had to do this I never did that and I never fried the starter, battery and main fuse. Honest.

How would you bump start a car without turning the key to Ignition? Or do you mean holding the key to crank the starter at the same time as letting out the clutch?

Jamie, get a £5 multimeter and check the battery. (before charging it)

12.4v or below and its either battery or alternator.

Jump or bump it, if the voltage does not rise to 14.4v whilst running, the alternator is dud/aux belt slipping/broken earth strap are the likely culprits.

If 12.6 or 12.7v, the battery and alternator are healthy and it could be a starter issue, try putting it in gear and rocking car back and forth to move the drivetrain slightly and try to start again.

A loose connection will do this.

Or do you mean holding the key to crank the starter at the same time as letting out the clutch?

Yup.

Tried to start it with key whilst someone taps starter motor with hammer.

Same symptoms, different vehicle. The AA, garage & I tried all of the above solutions, inc. having the starter serviced/cleaned. Turned out to be a poor earth, an additional strap from the battery to the block sorted it.

Has anyone thought about stuck starter motor? Place it in reverse, remove handbrake (so long as your not in a hill) and shove it from the front. The click from memory is the stuck dog gear solinoid trying to put the cog onto the flywheel.

well thanks all, you’ve all mostly diagnosed what i’d already diagnosed…

i’ve had it with a big booster starter and nope. alternator’s new and battery in good nick anyways.
tapped with hammer and nope. so gonna chack and clean up all contacts; motor and earth strap and try a bit of rocking in gear to see if something’s stuck

Imobiliser problem ?
Have a Google think you can bypass it with an new wire feed but id look on a pug forum it’s a very common engine

Get your big booster pack, put the positive clip onto the battery positive terminal and instead of putting the earth clip on the battery negative clip it onto the engine instead – if it starts you have got a bad earth. Quick and easy way to test.

Dont discount the alternator and battery just because they are new.

Ive had duff of both from the box(admittedly chinese junk both times)

Have you actually done any testing of either ?

“Imobiliser problem ?
Have a Google think you can bypass it with an new wire feed but id look on a pug forum it’s a very common engine”

You can but you need to very carefuly slice open the tamper proof case around the stop solenoid on these engines.

thanks trialrat, spence, bike mike and mikey-simmo, i’ll try those things

and spooky

🙂

turns out was just a stuck starter motor, as expected.
pulled it off, took it apart, brushes pretty worn, lubricated/cleaned in appropriate places, bunged it back on and jobsagoodun!
need to replace the brushes ideally, but turning nice and powerfully now.