300 tdi won't start

Discovery 300tdi won't start. Went off roading at the weekend and on the way home it decided to over heat. The battery light came on, speedo stopped working, Rev counter stopped working and then over heated. Now it won't start. Just a clicking noise when I turn the key. If I bump it it runs like new. Anyone any idea as to what the problem could be? Cheers

Starter motor? Or flat battery? Just a start for you to check, could be muck got in your starter or if rev counter stopped working ( pick up off alternator ) your alternator might not be charging e.g. Flat battery

P.s. nice intro

Checked battery yesterday and it's showing 12v so alternator must be working

and under load what does it show

did it actually overheat? ie. did you pop the bonnet and hear it gurgling and having a hissy fit? have you checked your exp tank to see if it still has water in it without crap in?

just if you shorted something out and drained the battery, then your leccies could have went funny showing it overheated when it possibly didn't.

dannye636 said:

Checked battery yesterday and it's showing 12v so alternator must be working

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You need to check the output of the alternator as it should be higher than 12v with the engine running

Marmaduke said:

You need to check the output of the alternator as it should be higher than 12v with the engine running

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Agreed. My disco reads at 14v at idle.

Excellent timing LRTV has just uploaded a video showing how to test the alternator on a 300tdi defender.

Sounds like either a poor cable issue as everything that failed has an electrical supply associated with it or flat battery. Alt light and rev counter could be alternator related. Clicking starter could be the result of high resistance battery cable (supply or earth) or discharged battery, 12v on a battery = discharged. Suggest you try charging battery overnight and try again. If it starts ok then your issues are probably a result of alternator failure.

If it overheated I'd check for crap in the radiator fins as you have had it off road.

dannye636 said:

Checked battery yesterday and it's showing 12v so alternator must be working

Click to expand...

Battery should be around 13V with no load and around 14V with the alternator running

When I had an earth issue on my 300tdi. It overheated on the gauge every time after 50mph. Nearly replaced the whole cooling system untill I was prompted to check the earth's.

It now runs perfectly. And other electrical problems have disappeared. Try the earth's. They are the cheapest

i'd say it's more likely the pos wires.. maybe to the alt or starter stud have shorted out. but it's a guess!

Is the alternator run by the same belt that drives the water pump?

Over heated, no charge = broken or loose drive belt.

The clicking noise is the starter solenoid working but with not enough current to drive the starter motor. Turn your lights on high beam and try to start the engine. If the lights go out you have a flat, or near flat, battery.

i had something like this on my discovery. checked the battery and voltage was fine. But when I put the volt meter on the clamps rather than the battery studs it said no voltage.

Took the clamps off and cleaned them and the studs. started fine. worth checking.

I had similar symptoms of gauges doing funny things and failure of the starter to turn and it turned out to be where the main cable bolted to the side of the alternator. The nut was lose. Well, by the time we found it, it had welded itself to the stud, but that was where the problem was. The charging light hadn't come on because that is powered by a separate wire on the multiplug on the back of the alternator.