FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

Had been driving all day and got home for a bite to eat... tried to restart and just went click.... Lights go  on and It will clutch start no probs... thats starter motor right. ??? ???
 Tried tapping it a couple of times to no avail. Ie there somethomg else I could to rather than replace the whole unit???
Nick

Nick,

How old is your battery?

John

I'm with you John, Nick check the battery first.

After having no warning signs one morning, drove 50 kms to work, stopped turned car off got out,
got straight back in to move further forward and that dreaded click sound.
Put in a mates battery started first time and drove to nearest battery dealer to buy new one. all good

Batteries can be naughty things  :P

Cheers Stewy   8)

I agree.
Check the battery posts and leads to ensure all is tight and clean and you are getting a good contact.
Regards
Alex

Thanks Boys..... will check it out in a minute....just been on a 60K cycle this am and I'm buggered :P
Don't know how old the battery is but it does not surprise me that that could be the problem, I have a spare so I'll swap them over and let you know!
Nick

I just went down and it did crank over after sitting for the night.... SO GOOD CALL EVERYONE!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;)
Changed the battery from a couple of spares I had and put the other on charge?? AS I said I couldn't tell you the age of it so I don't know how successful the recharge will be? Cleaned all the terminals and she is running again. Time for a oil change and a grease up!
Thanks to all again!
Nick

Battery was fully charged so I took it for a spin before changing the oil. Back up into the driveway and then the same thing..Just clicked.I'm going to check all the connections again and give them a clean

Check power wire to starter and earth to block.
also if your terminals are the stick the wire in and do the screw up type clean them out or try a jumper lead direct from the positive to the starter...

Have fun old cars can be a pain in the backside sometime..

Pete

Hi Nick,
Dont trust an old battery, even if its been on the charger and seems fully charged.
Only way to check is when your cranking it over with a meter to see what the cranking voltage is.
Father in laws 2009 lancer died in our driveway the other week, I put my meter on static it read 13.8 volts
rang RAA, when they turned up the cranking voltage was only 10.2 volts, answer change battery all good
I asked about keeping old one and recharging, patrol said these days would not bother.
Personally I would buy a new one and know what youve got before needing to chase the next point of failure
I'm with you Pete, you have to love these old cars.  :)

Cheers Stewy   8)

The saga Continues. :( :( :( >:(
The problem with the starting became very intermittent.... Just the ones you love...the battery had a good charge and would crank over the other FC no problems.
Anyway... I would start it ok then go for a drive get home and then it would just click. Come back the next morning and it would turn over again.... Today this morning I just kicked it over for a couple of cranks and then stopped.... 10 seconds later CLICK..So today I changed the leads to the soleniod and also the earth lead... Still the same  just a click... so I bit the bullet and went and bought a new battery.. 148 bucks. got it back a minute ago and installed it and CLICK. Not a good week to give up alcohol. :P
It does have a relay attached to the solenoid and that goes to the regulator and the generator... What would the function of that be???
Any ideas.. I think that it may be the solenoid. Is that an easy fix??? Something I could do or should I get it overhauled. I have never been anygood with electrics :-\
Thanks for the help!

Anyone wanna buy a battery ;D ;D ;D

Hi Nick.  The relay on the solenoid was probably put there to lessen the current through the ignition switch.  When I first started with my FC I had a similar problem.  If I gave the solenoid a thump with the blunt end of a screwdriver and all was well for a few starts.  From memory I found a dodgy riveted connection in the solenoid.  Possibly swap the solenoid for another ans see what happens.

Keith

probally out of brushes,,,,,,
 ;)

I redid the brushes in my FJ similar symptons, not saying its 100% the cause but it fixed mine ;D ;D and just in the nick of time as any longer left and I would have had to get the commutator machined ;)

Mick 8)

had the same problem when i rebuild my 1979 harley, after two new batterys and still the same problem.
finally found a old school mechanic that straight away connected a second earth wire.
problem fixed ( its been 3 years and its never missed a beat )

might be worth a try ???  ???

phil.