144 dl auto wont start

[scooters]

Hello all. After selling my orange 144 to a mate of torstens I bought her back last week. Today I drove 200 miles trouble free except fot the left turn indicator giving up the ghost and an old and obsolete exhaust clamp rattling along the m25 for 10 miles before disintegrating and giving the 60k merc following me a fright.
Anyway I pull up at home turn the engine off then decide to restart it to move the car and nothing not a sausage

There is charge the brake lights ampights all come on all the componentds work and all the ancilliaries work as well but the starter won't crank. No whirring noises or ominous clicks just nothing.

I have taken the dash to bits and checked connectionsm I suspect a loose earth or connection. I don't know these cars but they are pretty simle any ideas?

[redboy]

Hmmm; try starting it with the headlights on- do they dim- if so, it indicates the battery is dead.

Next, try jumping off of a mate's car. No, try jumping the battery- not jumping onto your Volvo from another car- that's not a good idea at all. Your battery may be weak. If it starts from that, then you know your battery is definately dead.

Clean battery terminals- My mate had a similar problem on a non-starting Skoda that'd been sitting for a while- it turned out the positive battery connector had totally corroded through! The battery was dead too- and wouldn't hold a charge overnight- would run fine during the day, and start every time when warm, but if sitting overnight would go dead. Batteries don't like sitting.

I'd follow the thick cables from the battery- the negative ones go to the body and engine. Unscrew these and clean with sandpaper- both the cable end and the body/engine and screw. Likewise, disconnect the red wire between the battery and starter and give it a good clean with sandpaper.

I'd try the simple stuff first before tearing out the ingition switch and dash wiring.

cheers,
brian

[amazondean]

From reading the first post it sounds like he is saying that everything else works but the starter does not spin. It could be that there is a break in the winding of the starter so that if the starter was in a certain position it would not spin. Just a thought.

[redboy]

another thing just popped in my head- yours is an automatic- maybe its the 'park safety switch.' Try moving the gearshift up and down with the key in the start position- the contact may be out of alignment.

[redboy]

In fact, the more I think about it- the more I think it may be this

[scooters]

The battery is strong and all components work. The car is not a great cold starter but there is always enough juice to get her going.
The first thing I looked at was the auto gear shift retard switch.....I took the selector to bits from the top end and there is no obvious switch in there. The only electrical component is the light for illuminating the gear selected. This had fallen off as had the coffer pin that fits onto the bottom of the selector button. I refitted all. Is the safety switch burried in the gear box? Obviously I have tried the shoogle technicque but nothing.

Fyi the symntoms are exactly as if I were trying to start an automatic in gear

Cheers

[redboy]

Looking at the pic, it is a little round cylinder thing on the passenger side of the gearbox- sticking down from above and mounted on the top lip of the gearbox pan.


according to Haynes " the switch unit is located on the lefft side of the transmission unit. To remove the switch, first place the lever in P. Raise the vehicle and support on jack stands.

Disconnect the electrical leads to the switch.
Remove the switch by unscrewing it from the transmission case
Verify the operatign pin projects by 9/16 inch. Do this check on the new switch too.
If the protrusion is less than specified, press the switch pin in and out and measure the protursion again. Each time the switch is pressed in and released the pin willprotrude a little more.
If the pin protrusion is greater than specified length, install a new switch.
Installation is the revers of removal B

On completion, verify that the engine can only be started in P or N"

[redboy]

I would bet that you could test it by removing the wires and bridging them together and trying to start it.

[scooters]

thanks Brian,
given the symntoms I agree that this must be the issue - now question for you - do you know the colour of the wires that go to this switch - I have no wiring diagrams or haynes manual for this vehicle. I am assuming that these wires go to the switch underneath the car and will require the car to be jacked on stands to reach? Once I have identified the wires I will disconnect them and join together to see if this starts the engine.

There is a strong opssibility that this switch has already been disengaged by a previous owner as the cotter pin system that prevents you from selecting P or reverse when moving has been disconnected - in fact it looks like a component is missing from the gear selector interior. If this is the case then I suspect that the two wires that would have led to the switch have dropped their connection and hence the car will now not start.

so, if you could once again refer to the manual and give me your thoughts I would be very grateful, Brian

thanks

Richard

[redboy]

Hi Richard,
You may or may not need a jack depending on how thin you are- I can usually crawl under my car ok without a jack, unless I need a bit more room to work. Just don't sit up suddenly!

I had a look at the wiring diagram- it didn't make any sense- it looked like there were 5 wires coming out of the switch, but that can't be right- the chapter said only 2 should be there- so I don't know. I may have just been going cross eyed trying to read the small print.

Regardless, the safety switch is the only electrical thing on your gearbox. Its a little barrel shaped thingy with wires out the top that bolts 'downwards' onto the lip where the pan is- I think on the passenger side. Crawl undersneath and you should find it.

Hope this is helpful.

cheers,
brian