car wont start

[alfa12177]

good morning .all lights come on the dash just get a faint clicking in engine bay.tested battery all is good any ideas guys many thanks chris

[Quaser]

could be a stuck starter? is it manual or auto?

if manual, with the car off, put it in gear and rock it backwards/forwards and try again.

You can try push starting it which should work

[Chris_B86]

As above, mine does it occasionally, most likely the starter stuck. Rock it in gear as said, whack the starter with a hammer, or sometimes putting jump leads on can give it a jolt and free it up

[alfa12177]

thanks.yes its manual wil give that a go.

[ranxerox]

delete

[Brianmoooore]

Another way is to locate the diagnostic plug in the engine compartment, find points 11 and 14, make a jumper I found a 10cm long piece of 12 gauge copper house wire worked well. turn key to run. Jump contacts 11 and 14 at the diagnostic plug and the starter should spin.

Key doesn't have to be turned to run (ignition on), for linking 11 and 14 to make the starter engage and crank the engine. It does need to be on for the car to start.

[alfa12177]

hi .taken till today to try this .linked 11 and 14 starter spins so starter motor is ok tryed doing the same with the ignition on car still wont start .any more ideas ? many thanks chris

[daimlerman]

If the starter will spin from the diagnostic socket but not from the ign key,then your fault lies between the ign lock and the diagnostic socket.

The ign switch is clipped onto the rear of the ign lock barrel,un clip and use a screwdriver to turn it,if the car starts,the fault is in the lock barrel mech.
If no starty;
Starter signal wire is black/yellow,there's a plug and socket to split this wire behind the glovebox,have a hunt for it and make sure the connection is good,also check for continuity back to the ign switch and forward to the starter solinoid.

[Brianmoooore]

If the car won't start with the ignition on (I assume the dashboard warning lights come on), then it might be an immobiliser that is wired to interupt both the start signal and the ignition feed that has kicked in.

[alfa12177]

If the car won't start with the ignition on (I assume the dashboard warning lights come on), thcaren it might be an immobiliser that is wired to interupt both the start signal and the ignition feed that has kicked in.

old thread revival car starts via diagnostic and runs fine but wil not start on key all dash lights come but no start if this is an immobiliser problem where should I start looking?the alarm is a scorpion if that helps any .many thanks chris

[Grrrmachine]

If it starts from the diagnostic plug but not from the ignition switch, then either the switch is at fault or something is interrupting the black/yellow wire from the switch.

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... ion_Switch

[alfa12177]

thanks for the help.removed ignition barrel stuck a screwdriver in and car started my next question is can the barrel be serviced in anyway or do I get another one thanks again chris

[Brianmoooore]

The barrel isn't likely to be the problem. It's the switch clipped onto the end that's likely to need replacing.