Td4..non starter

I've done a search, but just want to double check.

I came to start it on thursday morning and it wouldn't, it just made a clicking noise. After a couple of goes it started and has been fine untill today.

Have been out trying to start it nearly 30 minutes, just dash lights going off and clicking from the solenoid.

Am i right in thinking my solenoid is buggerd and would the repair kits that are available on ebay do the job?

thanks

From what you describe and provided all connections are clean and tight I'd say a repair kit is needed yes.

unless the battery is u/s, sounds like a flat battery

Sorry, i forgot to mention that i had tried a different battery aswell.

Same result

Mine too has been doing this for a while, and I put a solenoid repair kit on. It was a dead easy replacement. That was Friday, and all was well. Yesterday I could not get the thing started at all, so I naturally suspected the starter was shagged. A bloke I spoke to at an independent LR garage said it did sound like the starter, but it could also be the ignition barrel lock. They apparently go faulty and manifest with similar results.

Anyway, convinced mine was the starter, I went and shelled out £136 for a new one. Fitted it, and still the same: click, click, click, and no attempt to turn the engine

So I checked the battery, which by this point was well down, voltage-wise, where I'd been doing stuff in the freezing cold for several hours. I charged it up overnight and it's been OK today. I've been periodically checking it today, and the voltage is seeping away slowly, so I reckon my battery has had it. I'll find out for sure tomorrow morning as and when it does/doesn't start.

So was my original starter faulty? Who knows? Maybe it was just the battery, or perhaps a combination of both. Not much I can do about the replacement starter now as that's bought and on the vehicle. I may still have to shell out for a new battery this week too! Any recommendations of makes, anyone? Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread but it is sort of related!

Repaired the starter this morning with the repair kit from ebay and refitted the starter.

No go, Same problem!

All i'm getting is the clicking and nothing else.

any ideas?

pardec said:

Repaired the starter this morning with the repair kit from ebay and refitted the starter.

No go, Same problem!

All i'm getting is the clicking and nothing else.

any ideas?

Click to expand...

Did you check all connections first???

I got the clicking from a battery that was on the way out. Kept getting it going by jumping it, but it just wouldn't hold enough voltage, even after half a day since running it the voltage was too low to start, I got the click click click with all lights flashing in time with the clicks on the dash.

New battery solved it. That was this time last year when the cold weather came in. It really does batter the battery and if it's not in good shape will likely fail in the cold. Was a cheap fix for me.

Creeeg said:

A bloke I spoke to at an independent LR garage said it did sound like the starter, but it could also be the ignition barrel lock. They apparently go faulty and manifest with similar results.

So I checked the battery, which by this point was well down, voltage-wise, where I'd been doing stuff in the freezing cold for several hours. I charged it up overnight and it's been OK today. I've been periodically checking it today, and the voltage is seeping away slowly, so I reckon my battery has had it. I'll find out for sure tomorrow morning as and when it does/doesn't start.

So you didn't check the ignition barrel then?

So was my original starter faulty? Who knows? Maybe it was just the battery, or perhaps a combination of both. Not much I can do about the replacement starter now as that's bought and on the vehicle. I may still have to shell out for a new battery this week too! Any recommendations of makes, anyone? Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread but it is sort of related!

Click to expand...

See above comment cos I'd want to make sure it wasn't a drain to earth first



Then burn the F*£%er

When you say connections, do you mean the ones on the outside of the starter?
if so, yes twice

I'm going to give them another look.

How do i check the ignition barrel

Have you got a circuit tester ?

Cleaned up the connections with some emery cloth and refitted, no change

Bromsgrove Defender said:

Have you got a circuit tester ?

Click to expand...

I've got a 240v one thinkit does 12v aswell

I've taken the square black thingy off the back of the ignition barrel to check and all is nice and clean

Also tried starting while i was wiggling the wires from the ignition, made no difference

pardec said:

When you say connections, do you mean the ones on the outside of the starter?
if so, yes twice

I'm going to give them another look.

How do i check the ignition barrel

Click to expand...

I mean both ends of each battery cable and the small lucar connector on solenoid.

I know you've tried another but you should still test the battery.

When it was off did you test starter motor by bypassing the solenoid?

Chaser said:

I mean both ends of each battery cable and the small lucar connector on solenoid.

I know you've tried another but you should still test the battery.

When it was off did you test starter motor by bypassing the solenoid?

Click to expand...

Yes, i did both ends of the battery cable and the lucar connector.

If the battery was low would it still not turn over a touch? It had only been parked up for a couple of hours.I can get a jump start today if that would help solve it

I didn't test the starter motor, but i'll pull it out again if you tell me how to test it.

Willing to try anything, need it running today.

Have you checked the earth connection to the chassis/engine. This is out of sight and often forgotten.
Battery capacity is reduced to 50% at -20C. Also the internal resistance of the cells increases so that the output voltage is also reduced.
Rapid clicking usually means that either the battery is on its way out or there is a poor connection. When the key is turned there is sufficient current to pull in the solenoid. When that contacts the heavy current drain either pulls the battery voltage down or there is a heavy voltage drop across a poor connection. In either case the voltage at the solenoid is reduced and it drops out. That allows the voltage to rise and so it can pull in again, etc. etc.
If all connections are clean then I would suspect the battery, especially at the current low temeratures.

I would check it , but don't know where it is

pardec said:

I would check it , but don't know where it is

Click to expand...

Just follow the earth cable from the battery :doh:

Chaser said:

Just follow the earth cable from the battery :doh:

Click to expand...

Of course.....being an idiot because i'm getting stressed trying to to get it started

when my battery was f00ked it didn't turn over at all, just the clicking. Then I started getting all sorts of weird errors on the dash screen like the F4 error, so I thought the auto box was knackered, it really was just a dud battery. I uprated mine to a heavy duty battery and was spot on. Also I made sure to coat all the wiring connectors etc in WD40 to drive out moisture, and made sure to grease up battery terminals etc.

The cold weather will hit your battery hard, as mentioned reducing the capacity in the cells, that coupled with the fact that you will be running the glow plugs, heaters & fans, has probably pushed it over the edge. Try and jump start it (preferably from another big car/4x4 for some extra umphh) and if it manages to start you have narrowed it down.