Starting problems

[sobloodyobvious]

Beautiful sunny morning here.... Until I went out and tried to start the Disco 300tdi.

Turned the key, lights came on but when I tried to start ... nothing.
Happened before so swapped batteries and it's been fine for two weeks. Previously when it happened the battery power was down to about 12v so the change of battery seemed to solve the problem.

This morning I tested the batteries and the meter was reading 17v! When I finally started the car after rocking it forward and back while in gear I tested again and the reading was around 19v!

Any thoughts?

[SouthOz]

Voltage regulator or Volt meter faulty?

Dave

[sobloodyobvious]

Think the tester is dodgy. Tested a battery from a torch and it read high.

[gazby]

Sounds a lot like a "dry joint" on the spade connector that connects the start supply wire from the key where the wire connects onto the starter solenoid, it can cause some puzzling starting problems. I cut the old one off and crimped on a new connector and have had no mysterious no-go's since.
As far as the volts go, if the values you are reading are correct, (as you say it seems not), then your alternator regulator may be faulty, but more volts will not stop the starting process.