Forum:
hi recently got a sportrak elxi '93. Worked perfect for first few days - starting first time. Now on occasions i turn the ignition and it just clicks. Leave it a while then it starts first time. Or keep turning ignition and it comes to life.
Have just left it on a battery charge to see if this is the issue anyone experienced this before? Could it be the starter motor - where can i get a replacement?
re-bad starting
hi i had the same problem with mine last week ,the battery didnt seem to have enough umffff to start the old girl,but it turned out there was a bad earth somewhere and put a new one on and started na bother at all,hope this helps
how
hi i know nothing about cars what do you mean put a new earth on and how is it done?
Thanks
matt
earth
the earth is the black lead from your battery negative pole - this gose to body or chassis if it is rusty or corroded it cant make contact just unbolt it from body/chassis and clean the terminal on the end and the chassis/body area where it fastens to if its realy bads just drill a new hole somewhere and rebolt it
WE AL MAKE MISTAKES SAID THE DARLEK GETTING OFF THE DUSTBIN
WE AL MAKE MISTAKES SAID THE DARLEK GETTING OFF THE DUSTBIN
Battery is too old.
Flat battery. Buy a battery charger. Clunk is the sign of insufficient 'watts' in a battery. Basically the power is insufficient to turn the starter motor. Most batteries will have a maximum life of 5 years. Many fail after 3 years.
Its getting towards winter and older batteries begin to die. Cold weather makes increased demands and old batteries can't cope. The plates oxidise and viability of holding sufficient electricity becomes poor.
If starting is easy after re-charging with a battery charger, consider buying a replacement battery. Recharging might be short term. If you don't replaced a dying battery then be prepared for a dead battery on a cold midwinter morning!
Go for a high rated battery, rather than just a minimum standard battery. High rate gives more 'watts' on a cold winter day.
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If after recharging the 'clunk' continues, then turn on the headlights. Turn the starter. If the lights almost disappear then the battery needs replacing. If the lights remain very bright then check the leads/connections from the battery. First clean the battery terminals. Next clean the lead from the negative terminal where it is bolted to the car's body.
If that fails the next possibility is the starter motor. Remove and clean the lead to the starter motor --- remove the positive lead from the battery before playing with the starter motor! If that fails then get worried about buying a replacement starter motor .... but I expect the problem lies with the ages of main battery.
battery terminals
I had a similair problem to this a while back, my sporty died on me and the problem was the positive battery terminal had corroded and just bacame a resistor and wasnt allowing any current through.
Hope this helps. Ant.