Jumped in the car the other day and click! Nothing. Clickety click.Still nothing.

Grr so now I was going to be late. Just thought I would see if I could get something out of it so put it in gear and rocked it. Tried again and started. Happened later on as well.

Now I am not a mechanic so not sure what the issue is but what I do know I would think the starter motor is getting jammed possibly on the way out!

Obviously need to get it sorted rather than getting stranded but seemms a little intermittent as its not everytime it starts.

It will depend on how the starter ends up lined up to the flywheel. Get it changed it’s on its way out.

How often do you use the car? We got the other half mothers car a few months ago, and it would do this. The car was hardly used… after the first few weeks with us it stopped doing it and it’s been fine since…

Something in the starter is jamming. Either use the car more often or replace the starter motor. You could also try taking the starter off, knocking it around a bit, see if you can clean out the guts at all…. I imagine you won’t be able to do much though and it’ll just be a case of replace or take to a local motor electrical place (few and far between these days) and see if they’ll refurb it.

Thanks, not a biggy just got fleeced last time I had electrical issues on the car! Will drop in a local garage get them to swap it out.

It’s a fairly easy diy job to replace a starter. Try hitting it with a hammer first.

Its not a modern diesel is it ?

It’s a stuck solenoid on the starter motor, you can either give it a whack (the solenoid, not the starter) every time it doesn’t start or you could remove the starter it and give the solenoid a clean or just replace the starter.

Is the battery flat?

You’d probably get a 2nd hand starter for £10 or £20. They can be easy enough to fit so long as they’re not in a really awkward location. I had a similar issue, but in an automatic, which you can’t bump start, so had no choice but to replace it, otherwise it would’ve left me stranded somewhere.

I’d start with checking the battery. I’ve had the same thing, click and nothing – it was a dying battery, enough power to get a solenoid to click, but not enough to turn the starter

Could also be a bad connection to the starter. Check the wiring and clean any terminals. I think there’s an earth from the engine block that would apply to this too. Starter needs a fair bit of power. Places like Halfords used to do battery tests.

I am pretty sure the battery is ok it starts fine after its stopped clicking.

Not a diesel just a little estate to get the dogs out, Focus, so for a few quid and an hour under the car will swap it. Check the connection tomorrow incase something is loose.

Park facing downhill

Hit starter with hammer. Starter issues can sometimes be a symptom of a failing dmf.

What sort of clicking? One click as you hold the key in the ‘start’ position means the solenoid has fired but not the starter. That probably means that the starter isn’t getting enough current – think discharged/faulty battery, poor connections, burnt-out contact on either solenoid or motor.

First port of call would be charging the battery.

If that doesn’t help, next time it happens, stick a screwdriver in to bridge the two terminals on the solenoid (no idea how practical this is on a focus in terms of access). If it spins up then, the problem is with the contact in the solenoid. If not, you’re looking at duff connections elsewhere or a duff starter.