Thread: Fault finding a faulty 300tdi starter

Might just be worth checking the wiring. I've had intermittent starting from a poor connection from the ignition wire at the starter. Its possible that the love taps are also (temporarily) resolving a connection issue on that circuit. It seems unlikely in this situation, but I've also experienced intermittent starting when the earth cable at the battery wasn't refitted properly by a 'storage guy'. I'm sure others with more experience will be along shortly with some other things to check before pulling the starter.

Before you go too far, try swapping your cranking battery for another known good one and see what happens.

I've been caught twice with 'starter symptoms' with a supposedly good battery (showing 12.9 v +) and it turned out to be the battery.

DL

Some common problems in a 300tdi in a Disco 1 (which may or may not translate to a Defender) are;
1. Solenoid - wear out and can be bought separately to the whole starter
2. Lose actuator wire from the ignition
3 Spyder alarm - I don't know if defenders have ever been fitted with these. Not all Disco 1's were. My '96 has one and is bypassed.
- The Definitive Alarm Spider Post - Land Rover Technical Archive - LR4x4 - The Land Rover Forum
- https://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/Land...rityManual.pdf



I would suggest that you get somebody to turn the key while you have the actusator wire off and connected to a volt meter. If it is getting consistent feed that will rule that out. Probably pay to see if it is getting good (10-13) voltage while you're there.

Originally Posted by megz

9 out of 10 times one little love tap on the starter motor solves the problem

Advice I've read is not to tap the starter body as there is a risk of loosening the magnets glued to the inside. Not sure if enough shock can transmit to the starter body if you are tapping the solenoid body.

Have several D1 Tdi300's. One vehicle had issues with the earth strap running from the bell housing to chassis - refresh the metal contacts. The second vehicle had an issue with the solenoid, not serviceable, which is annoying as my old Toyota solenoid is serviceable with the purchase of new contacts for a few dollars. The starter can be taken apart and the thrust components cleaned/lubed.

Had similar problem in my 81 RRC with 300tdi. Frustrated for nearly 12 mths, would be no problem for months then without warming would fail to start, but would start after a short time, seemed worse on hot days. Went through all possibilities relay starter etc.Problem ended up being the small wire to starter, ran a new one direct from relay to solinoid problem solved. Ended up costing a fair bit for a piece of wire and 2 connectors. Ended up with a lot of spare parts.

Starter solenoid is rebuildable....
Had a recent experience if intermittent starting, and sometimes staying on.
removed solenoid and polished sleeve and piston. All contacts etc were ok.
Now runs every time and shuts off when expected.

Originally Posted by towe0609

Might just be worth checking the wiring. I've had intermittent starting from a poor connection from the ignition wire at the starter. Its possible that the love taps are also (temporarily) resolving a connection issue on that circuit. It seems unlikely in this situation, but I've also experienced intermittent starting when the earth cable at the battery wasn't refitted properly by a 'storage guy'. I'm sure others with more experience will be along shortly with some other things to check before pulling the starter.

Yeah I'll be checking the wiring next. Thanks for the heads-up.

Originally Posted by 350RRC

Before you go too far, try swapping your cranking battery for another known good one and see what happens.

I've been caught twice with 'starter symptoms' with a supposedly good battery (showing 12.9 v +) and it turned out to be the battery.

DL

Interesting. The battery always shows at least 12.3V but it is 5 years old so worth a look into.