Car reluctant to start

I've done a search about non-starting supras, but I think my problem might be different from the ones I've seen.

After a weekend of not being driven (this has happened on two successive Monday mornings now), unlock the car (car alarm chirps as normal), go to start the car, and just hear a single click from the engine bay. It's as if the battery's completely flat, dead as a dodo. I thought the immobiliser may have timed out, so I disarmed the immobiliser again to make sure, still nothing at all. The battery won't even rotate the engine by a few degrees, let alone start it.

If I just sit there in the car for about 10 seconds or so (not pressing any buttons on the key fob, and not trying to crank it over) and try to start the car again, the battery will crank the engine as normal (i.e. fairly strong crank) and start the car.

Could this be the starter motor needing a refurb? In the threads I've seen, the symptoms of this are a click-click-click, not a single click. There's obviously enough charge in the battery, otherwise it wouldn't be able to start the car at all.

I'm concerned that one day, my trick of just waiting for a few seconds won't work. Thanks for any help you can give.

Steve

Could be the battery.

When you switch the ignition on there's a fairly high current draw as everything powers up. After a few seconds this drops as things are now up and running.

If the battery is knackered it may be too much to do all this & crank at the same time, but if you leave it to recover after the initial current draw it may be ok to pull up the starter solenoid.

Try it with a jump start from a spare battery or a jump start pack?

Could be, but in-between cranking attempts I take the key out of the ignition completely, so when I try to start the engine for a 2nd (or 3rd or whatever) time, any auxiliaries that are on (e.g. heater fan) will still come on. The large power draw will still take place.

Do all the dash lights come on as bright as normal? Usually when the battery is low the drain will show on the lights power

I think they do come on as bright as normal: haven't tried switching the headlights etc on, but certainly the lights on the heater controls come on, as does the heater blower. All this when the battery won't want to crank the engine one little bit.

Could be, but in-between cranking attempts I take the key out of the ignition completely, so when I try to start the engine for a 2nd (or 3rd or whatever) time, any auxiliaries that are on (e.g. heater fan) will still come on. The large power draw will still take place.

Ah, probably the starter then. had this once on the V8 Westy when the exhaust heat got to it and caused the solenoid to jam up (grease inside turned solid). Try smacking it with a soft faced hammer while someone attempts to crank it first time (when the problem occurs) and holds the key at the crank position.

If it turns over when you smack it, then its the solenoid jamming.

Yeah my next bet would be starter motor too

I had a problem near on exactly the same as that on my old VW Corrado VR6, would start no trouble some times and others would not turn over at all. Turned out to be the starter motor.

Same problem here, not on the Supra but on our Carina estate:)

Seemed so much like a duff battery that I decided to replace it (it was the original and twelve yrs old so a good idea anyway).

Well, still the same! Booked in with Phoenix on Friday for a service and MOT and Mark there suggested it could be the starter terminals.

Will let you know the outcome if you like?

Paul

Yes please Paul.

Did it again this morning. This time, the battery rotated the engine REALLY slowly, and only by a few degrees. Meanwhile, all the dash lights, radio and heater blower come on fine. Turned the radio off, waited a few seconds with the ignition key still at the "on" position, then turned the key to "start": she fired first time.

I've borrowed a battery off a friend, so I'll put that in and see if it still does it.

OK, I'll let you know the outcome. Do me a favour though, if I forget then send me a PM Friday eve/Sat morning to nudge me as my memory is crap:d

Paul

Starter needs a rebuild? Probably solenoid contacts and brushes

Starter needs a rebuild? Probably solenoid contacts and brushes

Burned out solenoid contacts can do this. They probably can be taken apart & cleaned with some wet & dry 800 grit.

Or get a new starter?

Thanks guys. I'll ask Graham S to take a look at it for me. One thing still confuses me: occasionally, the battery will turn the car over, but only very slowly and nowhere near long enough to actually start the engine. Again, it's like the battery has a small amount of charge in it that gets decimated when you try and crank it. Could a starter motor fault cause that as well? Or could it be a dodgy earth?

I've tried using a borrowed battery, and it didn't make any difference.

Update for anyone who reads this: it was the starter motor contacts that needed refurbing.

It took 2 years to resolve ?

Well, I don't like to rush into things..

No, I'd fixed the problem ages ago, but I saw a thread on here this morning where someone was having trouble starting their supra. I pointed them to this thread, but then realised that I didn't actually say what the solution was here. It's one of my pet hates when people describe a problem, but don't post back and tell everyone what the solution was.

Thats one to note for the future then stevie,cheers

My starter motor has just given up the ghost all i get is a single click when I try and start her. She has a brand new Varta battery and all else is fine. How much of a pain is it to remove the starter on a MKiv Supra?

I had this exact same problem when I bought my car over two years ago. Changed the battery and hey presto problem solved

My starter motor has just given up the ghost all i get is a single click when I try and start her. She has a brand new Varta battery and all else is fine. How much of a pain is it to remove the starter on a MKiv Supra?

Have a read of the how-to guide to refurb the contacts (which includes removing the starter motor, although I doubt you'll need to replace the whole thing): http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=51682. After reading it I decided to pay someone else to do mine.

They're the same symptoms I had when my contacts needed replacing.

Ah, probably the starter then. had this once on the V8 Westy when the exhaust heat got to it and caused the solenoid to jam up (grease inside turned solid). Try smacking it with a soft faced hammer while someone attempts to crank it first time (when the problem occurs) and holds the key at the crank position.

 

If it turns over when you smack it, then its the solenoid jamming.

Hitting things with a hammer is the coolest way to fix things evar!

I've found it doesn't work with everything though

Have a read of the how-to guide to refurb the contacts (which includes removing the starter motor, although I doubt you'll need to replace the whole thing): http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=51682. After reading it I decided to pay someone else to do mine.

 

They're the same symptoms I had when my contacts needed replacing.

Nice one - I am going to do it myself as I have just spent over £2k on both my Supra's