I like trucking (I love to truck)

[Mr_Bo11ox]

These fuggin old cars are a nightmare man. I bought this truck last Thursday and drove it home from swindon. It started, drove and stopped perfectly including several stops for fuel, food, detours, etc etc. But get a load of this.

 

Test your diagnostic skills:

 

- Next morning (Friday) when i went to start it, all I got was a 'clonk' from the starter, the engine would not turn. I decided the starter must be jammed. Put in 5th, rocked it backwards and forwards, tried again. It started and ran well, off I went to work.

- At the end of the day, 'clonk' again. did the rocking trick, this time it would not unjam. after a couple of attempts, something happened to the starter such that the clonk was gone but now it was just spinning and making a funny 'zizzing' noise, a bit like when your flywheel teeth are knackered. Engine not turning at all. Took the starter off, it looked OK. tested it on the battery, it spun up ok. Tested the solenoid, it pinged in and out a treat. Put it back on the engine, and got this zizzing noise with no attempt to turn the engine at all.

- turned the engine over by hand with a spanner. turned over nicely in both directions, no clonks or stiff bits, turned smoothly but I could feel the compression, all seemed OK. cambelt OK.

- checked the flywheel teeth, and found to be in perfect condition right the way round. Flywheel is securely fastened (!) and not wobbling about on its bolts.

- inspected the starter. You can see on the pinion, the witness marks where it has meshed with the flywheel teeth. It has got good 'engagement'. This starter was fitted 12 months ago by the previous owner and still looks pretty 'new'. I cannot see any fault with it at all, no sign of any butchery, fitting the wrong starter or whatever.

- The only component which I cannot test myself if the pinion gear on the end of the starter. This has a clutch and one-way mechanism in it so that when the engin fires, it does not then end up turning the starter over. I cannot test the pinion myself and everything else seems to be OK so I take it to an auto electrician who agrees with the diagnosis and fits a new pinion at a cost of £45.

- I refit the starter - absolutley no change in symptoms. high-speed zizzing noise, engine does not turn at all. Fookin wars!

- I take the starter home (all repairs up to now carried out in the office car park) and look inside it. It has a planetary gear system in it which transmits the torque from the electric motor part to the gear which meshes with the flywheel. I cannot see anything wrong with this geartrain but establish that it is not transmitting the torque. You can hold the pinion still with a molegrip and turn the 'input' to the planetary gears no problem so theres clearly a fault there. I take it back to the auto electrician, he insists theres nowt wrong with the gears but agrees to check em again. he then agrees that the gears are fooked and fits a new outer gear FOC. Now I think i'm getting somewhere.

- Put the starter back on, engine turns maybe half a turn then 'Clonk' followed by the famous zizzing noise. Its stripped the new fookin gear! I take it off again and find that my new £45 pinion is smashed to bits too.

- I put my spanner back on the crank pulley and turn the engine by hand 2 full turns in both directions and all feels normal, you can feel the compression but theres no lock-up, stiff bits or slack bits. WHY TF HAS IT SMASHED THE STARTER!!!!

 

There is more to this story but this is where I was up to last night and I was tearing my hair out. Anyone care to make a diagnosis?

[nigel bickle]

Leave the starter off-tape up the cables- tow start it around the carpark.That'll isolate any engne problem-and help you get it home.If that doesnt throw up an 'issue' -scrapyard starter to see if the symptoms change.Battery, earth lead, causing complications on a tired mota?Good luck

[whitevanman]

OUCH.................Ok, hope this helpsthey are very, very bad for poor connections on to the solenoid, also the starters can get a warped mating face for some unexplainable reason check the flywheel isnt buckled............I know its rediculious....btu its happened to one of mine The symptoms you describe I've had before and one of the above has always fixed it..also if you ned a starter let me know I have a few squirreled away and you can have one if you want

[Mr_Bo11ox]

The root cause of this problem was a blocked vent on the fuel tank of all things, about 2 litres of diesel ended up getting siphoned from the tank back into the engine while it was parked up on a hot day. So the smashed starters were due to hydraulicing the engine, which turned over OK when I did it slowly with a spanner, but when the starter wantd to spin it over - CRUNCH.I have now drilled a new vent hole in the top of the filler neck, changed the oil and had the starter repaired (again), result - truck is now 100% operational again.

[whitevanman]

what made you check the fuel system ? I doubt I'd have thought of it...........

[Mr_Bo11ox]

My mate asked if it could be hyrdaulicing, I said 'doubt it as I can turn it over by hand OK' but then i checked the oil level anyway and it was 2.5 inches above what it should have been!

[Pillock]

Yeah, I gotta say that's a demon bit of diagnostics there. I'd have buggered at least three more starter motors, maybe hoiked the flywheel off and all that jazz first.In fact before drilling a hole in the fuel tank to solve a starter motor problem, I'd have probably sold the thing on at a massive loss or set fire to it.Good work

[nigel bickle]

As above. Demon diagnostics Sir.Would have taken quite a while to have puzzled that through

[whitevanman]

< writes this down in the book off knowledge >well impressed I have to say

[Spottedlaurel]

Excess fuel in your sump is starting to be a common occurence...

[UltimateJames]

Wow ! never heard of that happening before. One to remember.

[M'coli]

Mate's got a new Mazda 6 diesel - the dipstick states "when above this line renew oil"...Glad you got it sorted, shame about the cost. I hope it doesn't sour your P100 experience, though.

[andrew e]

Well done Boll. We had an Ex Butchers Sherpa (GR8 4 SMELLZ IN HOT WEATHER) with a quarter hole drilled in the filler cap, because it keept vac locking. had I not been thick I might have offered this advice