Real dramas starting, and i'm outa ideas!

Hi to you all again,
Hpoefully i'll explain my dramas and someone will have had it before, ive checked the old posts and none seem exactly like this.
Well 300tdi m reg auto. she generally starts really quickly in the mornings and when she does start she goes real quick. however for the last month she has given up the ghost if shes warm or has been driven for a bit.
The glow plug light will only illuminate for a second and then she will only really click a bit , i have tried running it through P to R to N to D and she clicks a bit and somtimes starts from that, but is now a non starter, also had a bit of smelly smoke from the Transmission tunnnel running up the handbrake cable!!! when i held the starter on, i have branched a live across to the starter onto the smaller wire but just a feeble attempt at starting happened. The alarm/immob is currently disconnected. The battery is good. any ideas.
Cheers
Andy

That sounds like a poor earth. had a similiar problem where my engine turned slowly as if the batt was flat, replaced the earths from chassis to gearbox took the old one from battery to g,box and gave it a damn good wire brush and wd40 bath and all is fine.

Engine now turns as it should.

it may help.

MMM As i was writing this i thought it sounds like a bad earth!!!! i'm guessing but there must be one from Batt to ? and i spose there is one from Gearbox to ? it's to late now but i'll dig rond tommorow and post the result , i did have the Handbrake apart recently wonder if i dislodged anything!

the problem i had was some clown put in a daihatsu engine, no complaints there, but when i was avin a rumage i found that that it was not earthed directley from the engine to chassis. my defender is earthed now from the following.

Batt to gearbox.
Gearbox to chassis
chassis to engine.

i bought some new cable and connectors for the batt to g-box
took the one from g-box to chassis off and cleaned.Thoroughly.

While i was at it i also took the feed from the starter off and replaced the connection and drownt it with wd40 where i could.

Update...
Its all gone pete tong fond earth bat to chassis all ok and i disconeccted that cleaned it , found earth gbox to chassis that was gunky so i cleaned it up and tightened it, no other earth found and the starter motor one is like really difficult to get to who desighned that! anyway went to test her and now the alarm keeps sounding, still non starting and i think my blipper is buggered as the green light only works on the emergancy alarm bit, its a green control panel but no serial number on it! i'm in dido now as i need the car monday as i start a new job!

new update...
right got her sttarted it seems as if the handbrake was shorting somthing !!! now as soon as i start her the alarm sounds and the top button normally associated with turning it off doesnt work! the bottom emergancy one does turn it off but as soon as you go to start again it goes off again , my nieghbours must hate me! any advice or can i disconnect alarm?

cossiedreamer said:

new update...
right got her sttarted it seems as if the handbrake was shorting somthing !!! now as soon as i start her the alarm sounds and the top button normally associated with turning it off doesnt work! the bottom emergancy one does turn it off but as soon as you go to start again it goes off again , my nieghbours must hate me! any advice or can i disconnect alarm?

Click to expand...

are you sure that the handbrake was shorting something? It is common with a discovery with an earth fault to find it is useing the handbrake cable as an earth. Hence the smoke etc from that area.

You of course are correct, but i was so excited about getting the thing going that i wrote the wrong thing...
Alarm drama i have now disconnected the neg term from batt, stuck key to posn 2, reattached neg cable and heard a bit of clicking this then started and no alarm! she has driven i now have disabled the handbrake until i can id the prob there exactly.
Any ideas how to rectify this fault or have i done it by recleaning all earths? cheers ratty and diesel

goto maplins or a good autfactors and buy a HD battery earth strap bolt it to the engine and chassis (after you've ground all the rust off both mounting points. and it will solve 99% of earthing problems.

cossiedreamer said:

You of course are correct, but i was so excited about getting the thing going that i wrote the wrong thing...
Alarm drama i have now disconnected the neg term from batt, stuck key to posn 2, reattached neg cable and heard a bit of clicking this then started and no alarm! she has driven i now have disabled the handbrake until i can id the prob there exactly.
Any ideas how to rectify this fault or have i done it by recleaning all earths? cheers ratty and diesel

Click to expand...

I am with redhand on this. A new set of earth straps is the best course of action.