Thread: Where have I gone wrong (starter motor solenoid replacement)?

Just a quick Q.
Do you wait till the yellow glow plug light turns off on the dash before you crank it over, or directly from full off, to full on, on the key?
You're in Brissy, so I can't imagine it being too cold up your way for it to start up straight off and needing some preheat.
Otherwise could be a sign of a failing fuel pump, or a failing fuel pressure regulator.

So waiting a short while from ign off, to ign on(but not starting) .. allow the fuel pump to prime a little AND the glow plugs to pre heat .. then start.

Did you have any issue at all starting from an already warm engine.
i.e. did this only happen from a cold start? .. did it also have the same effect with an already warm motor? ... etc.

Originally Posted by AK83

Just a quick Q.
Do you wait till the yellow glow plug light turns off on the dash before you crank it over, or directly from full off, to full on, on the key?
You're in Brissy, so I can't imagine it being too cold up your way for it to start up straight off and needing some preheat.
Otherwise could be a sign of a failing fuel pump, or a failing fuel pressure regulator.

So waiting a short while from ign off, to ign on(but not starting) .. allow the fuel pump to prime a little AND the glow plugs to pre heat .. then start.

Did you have any issue at all starting from an already warm engine.
i.e. did this only happen from a cold start? .. did it also have the same effect with an already warm motor? ... etc.

Thanks for your reply! To answer your questions,

Yes I always wait until all the yellow lights have gone off, and sometimes a little longer (because I often use that time to put my seatbelt on or check my phone etc).
Agreed, it's not cold at all here, especially not in the garage. I replaced the fuel pressure regulator about 2 months ago because it was leaking, no leaks since so I hope it's not that.

Just went and tried to start it again (to check its warm-start), waited for all the lights to go off as usual and noted that the thermo showed it at full operating temperature...started straight away!

Thinking more along the lines of a fuel pump issue now... also, I'm at about 1/4 tank of fuel at the moment, which may reduce pump performance.

Speaking of fuel and now that I'm thinking about it (here comes another short story). The last time I fuelled up I noticed that when I got the the bowser, the fuel low warning light had just come on, like maybe 1 minute before reaching the bowser. I was then surprised to find that I was able to fit 92Liters into the 95L tank! I would've thought the warning light would give me more warning than that. It hasn't always been like that...not that I wait for the fuel light to fuel up. Maybe somethings going wrong down there and I've been thinking about the wrong end of the car lol

Went to start the car for the first time this morning, cold start and about 36hours after the solenoid replacement (with no issues so far), she cranked but didn't start.

Relax. If it cranked it's not the starter motor or the battery if at 12.5.(if the battery is reasonably new although if old it will slowly crank then give up)
It is coincidence that it started when you hit the starter.
Most likely cause is leaking injector seals. Mine used to sometimes do that with bad injector seals and I replaced a battery before I worked it out. They start perfectly 90% of the time then one day no start then eventually start on one cylinder then 2 and so on.

Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by PhilipA

Relax. If it cranked it's not the starter motor or the battery if at 12.5.(if the battery is reasonably new although if old it will slowly crank then give up)
It is coincidence that it started when you hit the starter.
Most likely cause is leaking injector seals. Mine used to sometimes do that with bad injector seals and I replaced a battery before I worked it out. They start perfectly 90% of the time then one day no start then eventually start on one cylinder then 2 and so on.

Regards Philip A

Hadn't considered injector seals, I'll have to do some forum searching for that one... out of curiousity, what makes you think it's the injector seals and not the fuel pump?

Originally Posted by bjasch94

Hadn't considered injector seals, I'll have to do some forum searching for that one... out of curiousity, what makes you think it's the injector seals and not the fuel pump?

Just my 2 bobs worth. When was the last time you replaced the fuel filter?

Hadn't considered injector seals, I'll have to do some forum searching for that one... out of curiousity, what makes you think it's the injector seals and not the fuel pump?

Well it could be that also , but fuel pumpos seem to last a long time in TD5s,mine is 206KK, and injector seal far less time.
Also pumps fail in a number of ways, sometimes the High pressure side and it will still start but no power.
Go to the back after you turn on the ignition and listen. Noise good no noise bad.
If too much noise then again suspect injector seals, if loud at first then goes softer.

Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by bjasch94

The funny thing is, next I tried tapping the main body of the starter motor with a small hammer while my wife cranked it, AND IT STARTED INSTANTLY.

Since the hammer worked you should check the flywheel. Sometimes a few worn teeth on the flywheel can cause intermittent starting issues and the easiest test is to see if hammer blows on the starter will fix the issue. An inspection mirror might help you get a visual. Alternatively the starter pinion could be worn, did you check it when you were fixing the starter?

Shell

Since the hammer worked you should check the flywheel.

But then the starter would go Whirrrr instead of Chur Chur.

Regards Philip A