can anyone make sense of this?

[adi]

Hi all...its my renault :( apart from being ****e its also got an annoying problem which is confusing me....

First of allthe symptoms were occasional starter motor failure when turning the key ..sometimes it wouldnt turn.. sometimes it would wait, and then turn.

Then, it blew two engine fuses, including a big 60 amp under the bonnet.

Now, i've replaced the fuses.. so i go to start the engine. It turns over.. but the starter motor wont disengage... so i turn the key off. The engine carries on.. i have to stall it to get it to stop.
Today, i checked the ignition barrel.. its okay. I go to start the car again.. same story.. starter motor sticks and this time i catch it before the car fires up. I turn the key off, and the starter motor is still whining, but not turning the engine over (the key is out at this point). The engine then turns over and fires up, with the starter motor still whirring round. Then the engine dies.. the starter motor is still whirring round but not engaging properly.. and then the engine fires up again a few seconds later.. the key is STILL out of the ignition

I stall it again to stop the engine (after disconnecting the battery lead to stop the starter turning the engine over again).


SO !!! I know what you're all saying.. the starter motors shagged.. but howcome the engine still fires with the key out?

DOES the starter motor sound shagged???

Cheers
adi

[Nick@TC]

All points to the ignition switch, french cars are notourious for it, but most common on '90-95 VW's surprisingly.

[adi]

i metered the igntion switch nick.. not sure about the results... it seems fine to me.. evertyhing turns off and on as it should do.

I did notice that the starter switch and the second igntion switch are linked... ie when i turn the key to start there is a connection between the second ignition output and the start motor output.. which made sense to me as the igntion has to be kept alive whilst the starter motor is turning?

I dunno.. i'm going to replace one.. either the starter motor or the igntion barrel.. you reckon the barrel?

[xgordyx]

I can't relistically see it being the starter, but there is a possibillity that it maybe back feading the system (but i wouldn't have thought so lol) try disconecting the exciter wire for the starter motor solinoide (the wee one) and see what happens. Quite hard for me to explain where to go from there coz need to know what happens once the wire has been disconected. Might also sound a little silly but there may also be a fault with the imobilliser, a friend of mine had a mk4 soop where when you turned the key to run (not start) the starter motor would spin over found the fault to be the imobiliser had gone tits up in a big way (had to replace the whole unit)

[Bryank]

Starter motor solenoid jamming/shot.. power backfeeding from it to the ignition circuit which lets it fire up without the ignition being on. if you thump the solenoid with a mallet, it'll probably stop the starter, and cut the ignition..

(sounds similar to a problem a mate of mine had years ago)

[adi]

ah right... cheers Bryan... i guess that may make sense.. as before i had this problem the starter motor wouldnt turn sometimes.. or holding it on the key for a few seconds might make it turn eventually (this is how the fuses blew originally i think).

Also, in th last escapade.. the starter seemd to be whining, but not turning.. then it might start turning (firing the engine in the process) , and then the engine would stop yet the starter would go back to whining. All very odd but maybe poining to a dodgy solenoid as you say.

Cheers for the help..looks like i'll try the starter motor first.

adi

[Nick@TC]

I can't see it being the starter, but then again it's French, so anything is possible :D

Why oh why did you change the Avensis??

[supratoy]

Sounds like the starter motor relay sticking to me!! if they have one?? :banghead:

[adi]

:D i'm beginning to wonder why i got rid of the avensis nick.. :D but then again it had 50% compression on one cylinder... and it was becoming worthless on an S plate. The laguna is on a V so in theory still worth about a grand over the avensis..

but its toss.. so its probably going after this.

Anyway.. i think i'm going to try the starter motor.. i can get a second hand one for £35.. which is probably less than the cost of getting someone to look at it. After that i'll try the igntion barrel... and then a petrol can and a match.