Disco 2 starter or battery?

Hi All
After some work today on my car (changed the downpipe) I wanted to take the car to a ride, turned the ignition on wanted to start, nothing, only click.....
never happened before. Closed the car with fob just to see if the immobiliser playing with me,opened, started but no success.
Checked battery (1 year old Varta) 12,2V. Finally checked starter motor connections (bit oily) and gave it a small hit with a hammer, started!
After an hour ride I have checked again the voltage 12,6V and with the engine running 13,7V.
Additional information. I have some oil (or diesel) on the starter seems that my FPR starts leaking.
I am not so good in car electronics, so any advice where to start, appreciated.

12.2 is far to low for a td5 this time of year

TD5 starter motor solenoid contacts are famous for burning out, search on ebay for repair kits, cheap enough.
Check battery after standing overnight.

12,4V today morning (0.2V drop during night)

Hi it should be 12.7 give it a charge overnight and see how it is over the next couple of days

Hi, important is the voltage while you turn ignition to crank but if you hear a click turn on the headlamps and try then and if the lamps are not dimming when you hear the click you need a solenoid repair kit...if the lamps are going out the battery is gone(unless the clamps are not loosened)... there is no Varta compatible with a td5, those which fit into the tray are too weak and those which would be strong enough are too big to fit, you need at least 110AH/900CCA battery(AH/CCA are both minimal), if your's is weak dont try to find locally a good one cos it's hard to find in our region, order this: https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/bulletbatt/c31-1000/

berg450 said:

12,4V today morning (0.2V drop during night)

Click to expand...

Don’t worry about it, I doubt that your multimeter is 100% accurate.
My £220 Fluke multimeter which is certified every year, as are my engineers multimeter, shows a voltage variation of 2%. according to the supplied certificate.
The nearest I can get to an accurate reading is by using the firms bench meter and that has a 0.75 voltage variation, again it’s s certified.

sierrafery said:

Hi, important is the voltage while you turn ignition to crank but if you hear a click turn on the headlamps and try then and if the lamps are not dimming when you hear the click you need a solenoid repair kit...if the lamps are going out the battery is gone(unless the clamps are not loosened)... there is no Varta compatible with a td5, those which fit into the tray are too weak and those which would be strong enough are too big to fit, you need at least 110AH/900CCA battery(AH/CCA are both minimal), if your's is weak dont try to find locally a good one cos it's hard to find in our region, order this: https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/bulletbatt/c31-1000/

Click to expand...

You are right, my varta is a bit smaller but it was the closest what i could find locally. If it has gone i will order the one you recommend.
Today my car has started fine, but i will keep watching the buttery voltage.

Discodevon said:

Hi it should be 12.7 give it a charge overnight and see how it is over the next couple of days

Click to expand...

After about 2 hours ride today it is on 12,4V. I will put it on battery charger to see if it gets better....
The starter seems to be ok as it has started without any issue several times today.

Mine did similar in the cold but was fine when warm, got a new 1000 cca battery, starts better than she ever has since I had her 2015... I definitely recommend fitting one like SF mentioned above.

I definitely recommend getting a cigarette plug multimeter too!

This is worth a look