TD5 Cranking Not starting - Solved

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NdG1977

Member
Posts
20
Location
Nantwich
Hi Guys,
Defender 90 TD5 2002.
I had a few issues with the starter motor clicking occasionally so I decided to rebuild the soenoid, everything went great and now the solenoid and the starter motor turn pretty well, but the engine is not starting anymore!
I managed to jump start it once in 3 days.
It turns well listening to, it tryes, but just doesn't start.
What do you think it could be?!?
Fuses are good, pump has 1000 miles and starts as soon as I turn the key and no bubbling, injectors seals have 500 miles.
I fiddled quite a lot to remove the top nut and might have dislodged something on the fender area? anything there that would prevent start? Not really clear of what those small plastic pipes with rubber joints are for.
From my understanding I don't have an immobiliser or at least it has been removed.

Cheers!

Ps battery was quite old so I changed it but still the same issue.

Edit: Inertial button is ok! I also tried to run a lead from battery Negative to engine and no difference
 
Last edited:
Hi guys,
Car started 3 times in a row!
After new battery fitted I cleaned all contact I could see with contact cleaner and taken good care of the red connector on the ECU.
Seems that did the trick and the car started.
I had a new loom 2K miles ago so it feels too early to have an oil in ECU issue, but anyway now everything works.
The connector wasn't clean but far from what you see in Youtube videos with oil at the bottom of the contact.
I'll keep you posted on what happen in the next days.

The annoying thing is that you do something and then something else happens completely unrelated to the first thing! It makes life exciting...LOL

Cheers!
 
Back to it again!
This afternoon wasn't starting, charged the battery fully and now it starts first try...
The battery is new so ti holds the charge well!
Do I have a drain somewhere? Or a bad earth could require higher voltage to start?
This weekend if the wheather is good enough I'll clean up all the grounding...
 
I wouldn't necessarily presume the battery is good because it is new.
I bought a new one once which failed after the first time I used it. Changed under warranty and all was good.
 
Fully charged spins very strongly...and when it doesn't start ti still spins fairly well...that's the odd thing it gets almost there it even gives it a shot on its own for a couple of spins, but doesn't stay up...
I'll see if tomorrow morning starts from cold...
 
Started from cold first turn, less than 2 seconds with battery freshly charged, drove to work (4 miles) and coming back struggled a little to start, but after 4-5 seconds of cranking it started.
Now I got the Engine telltale lighted, but don't have a way to check the code myself, will need to drive it to the garage.
Any idea of what could be?
Having fiddled with the starter I'm inclined to thing it should be Electric related, but the fact that everything works flawlessly (Lights, radio, brake lights etc) and hooking the battery NEG to chassis or engine with a cable doesn't improve it makes me think...
 
taught about it, but the starter worked perfectly before, just had the click issue at times but when was working started right away. The solenoid I removed was battered so that was clearly the origin of the clicking, the starting problem begun when I put the starter back so I think I'm actually the cause, but you never know! Sometime it feels like you pop something in and something else pops out somwhere else! :oops:
 
I've been looking for one, but it looks like the only one worth it is the Nanocom and I'm not really ready to spend 500£ on something that will have a limited usage for me as I'm not expecting to program injectors or remapping.
If you know of any cheap code reader that would be nice. Even if it can only read and clean codes would be something.
 
Might be unrelated to your issue, but repeated journeys of only 4 miles can't be good for a battery...
Seem to recall reading somewhere that a 20minute run is needed to replace the Amps drawn at startup?
Anyone able to confirm or refute this?

My brother used to have a half-mile commute (+home for lunch) and his battery was always half dead or dying... and better for a while after a mains charge...
 
Agree that’s not great for the battery, but cannot change house to live further away from work…😅 the battery is new and strong anyway. But the car starts only if the car has been just fully charged. If I crank 30 seconds and the car doesn’t start doesn’t start anymore but the starter still turn strongly and the battery still keeps a good voltage under stress.
 
Update:
I unbolyed the starter motor cables, cleaned them and put them back.
Now it even struggles to turn the engine! Not the expected result, but we are going somewhere! Tomorrow hoping in good weather I'll remove it, re-open it on the bench and put it back.
It looks like the fault is between the steering wheel and the seat this time! :rolleyes:
 
Just because you fitted a solenoid kit doesn't mean the starter is any good.
The windings (or whatever they call them) can be knackered. On further inspection mine was full of rusty crap and mud.
A badly operating starter can affect the cps and give you a non, or difficult, start and giving you an engine management fault.
Mine had exact symptoms as yours, I spent £160 on a new starter which fixed it.
Might be something else with you but there are limited things which will give you an engine management light. I
THINK the cps and throttle pedal will give you such a light. Double check by searching the forum for more info.
Code reader would confirm the fault either way.
Of course cps and wire loom can cause it's own problems.
 
Final Update:
The Car finally starts perfectly always at the first try.
I removed the motor again and looked at the contacts and they were not flat!
Advice for everybody attempting the rebuild of the starter motor soenoid: do not tight the contact nuts too much otherwise they twist especially when the motor is back on in the car ad you tie the last nut keeping in place the contacts.
 
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