Jump to content
SAU Community

Car will not start but makes strange clicking noise - HELP

JCMarshall_Law

By JCMarshall_Law,
in General Maintenance

 Share

Recommended Posts

JCMarshall_Law Proficient

JCMarshall_Law

Posted
Posted

EDIT 3/8/05: Problem fixed for now - see post 12 below.

Been having a bad run with the line,

Had a minor bingle about 2 weeks ago, car was running fine after (only front bumper was rooted) so the car was sitting in my garage and not started for 1 1/2 weeks. Go to start it yesterday and battery was dead, no prob, it was on the way out for a while and I already had a new one. So I replace the battery and go to start it and when I hold the key in the start position I get this loud Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, noise at about 5 Hz, comming from the somewhere up front. The motor does not turn over at all.

When I hold start the voltage drops considerably - I know the battery is good, besides I also tried to start the car with the car jumpered to another running car.

All this sounds like a rooted starter motor to me, but before I spend craploads on a mechanic trying to find out what is wrong - has anyone had a similar problem? Does anyone know what it couls be?

Any help greatly appreciated.

DLuded Mentor

DLuded

Posted
Posted

i had the same problem iwth mine when i imported the r32. i thought it was the alternator but when i took it to the auto electrican he found out the it was some weird fuse ive never heard of before or something. if i were you i would take it to the auto electrician. get him to ring you once he knows what the problem is then you can decide from there. im a cheap arse and if it was the alternator i would have bought a second hand one instead of paying a shitload for a new one

blind_elk Grand Master

blind_elk

Posted
Posted

It seems to be a problem in the starter circuitry. When I had that problem, my mech re-wired the starter solenoid so it got power direct from the battery (used the factory trigger wire to switch a relay). Haven't had a problem since.

JCMarshall_Law Proficient

JCMarshall_Law

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for the replies, few things for me to try.

I forgot to mention that it used to do it when my battery was low, so BBQ's reply is sounding like its on the right track.

GunMetalR33 Mentor

GunMetalR33

Posted
Posted

I have had the same issue, but mine did it also when there was plenty of voltage (seen from PFC). I always figured the starter motor was not engauged right. All I do to fix the issue is move the car a little while in gear the the problem goes away.

I dont know if I am right with my theory but it works for me...

JCMarshall_Law Proficient

JCMarshall_Law

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I thought of doing that but then I thought that the startor mortor is not engaged unless it is being cranked. I'll give it a go if it worked for you.

I have had the same issue, but mine did it also when there was plenty of voltage (seen from PFC). I always figured the starter motor was not engauged right. All I do to fix the issue is move the car a little while in gear the the problem goes away.

I dont know if I am right with my theory but it works for me...

apxjet Explorer

apxjet

Posted
Posted
I have had the same issue, but mine did it also when there was plenty of voltage (seen from PFC). I always figured the starter motor was not engauged right. All I do to fix the issue is move the car a little while in gear the the problem goes away.

I dont know if I am right with my theory but it works for me...

Mine does the exact same thing.. a couple of times a week I have to give it a bit of a clutch start..

Baz Experienced

Baz

Posted
Posted

That clicking noise is the noise that it will make when the battery cannot supply enough CCA to the starter motor (Cold Cranking Amps). It makes this when enough voltage is present to turn the vehicles circuitry on but not enough to crank the motor. Check your battery voltage and then if that doesnt work get your wiring to your starter motor checked. If the starter motor was rooted I doubt it would even make a clicking noise.

JCMarshall_Law Proficient

JCMarshall_Law

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I seem to have fixed the problem, I just played around with the power connections to the starter motor and gave them a quick cleen - have not had a problem since (3 days later).

Thanks all for your help, if this fourm did not exist I may have payed $200 for someone in a workshop to do the same thing.

Cheers,

Pat.

  • 3 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • MBS206
      Blue slip

      By MBS206 · Posted

      I have been being VERY quiet about what you're alluding to, as it is something that ticks me off... The number of cars from factory that run coil overs is HUGE! Most of them these days do... The other part that annoys me, is people saying "Well all the incabin adjustable suspension is illegal by blah blah blah"... If that's the case, then why can I buy a car brand new that can do it if, FULL STOP in cabin adjustable suspension is illegal...   Also, I could just chuck some aftermarket shocks in my car, throw the stock springs on, after my blue slip, dump my super low springs back in. Same shock and spring style setup... Hell, they could also be the same colour springs etc.     I'm voting, BlueSlipper didn't want to touch the above car for some reason. Whether it be some sort of bias against the car, the owner, them maybe having previously done dodgy shit and now they're being super careful in case they get slapped in the face by the Gumbyment again... Find a new blueslip place.   And can confirm as you had said, yes there are holy bibles of vehicle heights, and all sorts of other suspension stuff. Heck your run of the mill mechanic, and tyre shop has access to all of that stuff. It's how they do wheel alignments...
    • The Bogan
      NC MX5

      By The Bogan · Posted

      Funny story Heading to Sydney this morning on the HWY there was some slow traffic, so I gave it the beans and midway through my overtaking "power run" I lost all power It seems that I missed a hose clamp,  and the MAF and filter went WiFi To make this more problematic, the little tool kit that lives in the boot, is sitting in the sun room at Goulburn......LOL Luckily for me I found a bit of steel on the side of the road that could be used like a rusty and bent flat head screw driver to tighten it up enough that it got me into Sydney, it is now all tight like a tiger with the aid of a 8mm socket Note to self: Use my brain and double check stuff, and always keep that little tool kit in the car for when I have a brain fart
    • MBS206
      Ethanol Content Sensor - Always at 11%?

      By MBS206 · Posted

      Oh, and as for everyone with their fuel economy changes, I switch between E10 and 98 in the company car. Even do when I had personal cars that could run on E10. You know what changed my fuel economy in any noticeable way? How I drove, and where I drove. Otherwise, say on full tanks of just back and forth from work only (So same trips, same sort of traffic), couldn't notice a difference that I can correlate to the type of fuel in use. In the current vehicle, that's over 42L of USABLE fuel. While 98 is all "more energy dense", it also has higher knock resistance as it takes more energy to get it to ignite too. The longer hydrocarbons, typically more tightly bound. So running the same ignition map, can also produce less power, if there isn't enough time to get it all burnt through properly, as yep, the flame propagation speed is different from lower octane fuel to higher (Higher has a lower flame propagation, due to the more tightly bound and harder to self ignite funs. This is also typically where, a vehicle that is designed purely to run on 91 (Whether it be E10 or normal 91) usually sees absolutely no real world difference in fuel economy for the normal man, woman, or dog.
    • MBS206
      Ethanol Content Sensor - Always at 11%?

      By MBS206 · Posted

      We've got some servos around me that have 91 with E10, 91 (no E10), 95, and 98. At those stations the change from 91 E10 to 91, is typically around 8c/L.   But lets not get started on the price of fuel in Oz. It's ridiculous. All the service stations around me, bar one, the price of fuel has been over the $2 mark per litre for the cheapest, 98 being around $2.45. That one service station is a CostCo, fuel from it comes from the same refineries, and makes no pitstops, it runs great, including the 98. In fact, I've had no issues on CostCo fuel, but plenty of issues at other stations!. The CostCo fuel, was $1.65 roughly this week for 94 with E10. $1.88 for 98. Servos directly across from it, $2.10 for 91 E10, and $2.48 for 98. The part I had to laugh at? If I drive multiple HOURS away from Brisbane, say out near Nanango, or Kingaroy, or even out to Goondiwindi, the price of their fuel, is the same as what it is at the CostCo... Oh, and that BP servo at Goondiwindi is HUGE and goes through epic turnover of fuel, so it's not sitting there for weeks going to shit. And what blows me away, my mate is one of the people who drives the Fuel Tanker all around QLD, delivering to all those places. At the same company his previous role was doing the "local haul" deliveries... Same truck, same driver, same pickup point it all comes from. So you tell me, how the hell it is 60c/L CHEAPER for fuel, when nearly all else is equal, except they require a B-Double to drive half a day out of Brisbane, and half a day back, every second day, compared to the delivery that can be under 30 minutes drive from the fuel pickup point... Not to mention, go five blocks down the road, and Ampol to Ampol will vary 30c/L... And I've had this conversation with my mate... The way it's priced, is just typical, pure and utter rubbish... He also does runs from Brisbane, to all over QLD, down to Newcastle, Sydney, Nowra, Melbourne, Geelong, and even out to parts of the NT depending on the companies needs. His main stuff is all the longer distance away from home for a few days at a time, then when he's back, he loves to just pickup extra shifts wherever he can in whichever truck, hence all the weird different places.   Oh, as for getting E10 into all the fuels in Australia... It was very quickly highlighted, that we don't have enough biomass available to use to make E10 sustainably like they require, and it would dramatically cut into our, and the worlds food chain supply...   I vote we all just start running on liquid methane gas... Plenty of that just getting tapped off at tips from underground decay... (Note, this is pure just stupid commenting. I could very easily highlight the reasons its not a good idea especially on scale...)
    • Murray_Calavera
      Questions on potential new purchase

      By Murray_Calavera · Posted

      Am I correct in assuming that the R35's are getting the classic skyline haircut off the odometer?  Quick search on carsales, there are 33 08 and 09 GTR's for sale, only 2 of them have more then 100,000km's on them (116,075 and 110,000 respectively).  And somehow there are about 25 for sale with around 60,000kms? Looks like the classic skyline haircut to me =/
×
×
  • Create New...