armchair diagnostic help needed - click of death

[pabbage]

Hello everyone,

Cars been running well .. I finally set the float levels and had a good run out today.

Parked the car up and thought I'd try a hot restart now i'd adjusted the float levels… and the car wouldn't start. I could hear the fuel pump.. and there appears to be power but turning the ignition I just get a click. If I try starting with the starter solenoid button (not turning the key) nothing happens at all.. not even a click. Car was going really well up until this point… maybe the indicator flasher seemed slower than normal (but that could be me overthinking.) I'll go back to it tomorrow with some jump leads and have a look/ poke/ hit the starter with a hammer (the limit of my talent) but I was wondering if anyone had any bright ideas or a series of things I should check.

Thanks in advance,

Paul

[ericbushby]

Hi Paul,
So far it just sounds like a flat battery
Eric in Burnley

[pabbage]

Thanks Eric - I'll start there.. I didn't have time to look at anything tonight so will venture out tomorrow with tools and stuff.

I still had lights, windows etc. And it started perfectly well 15 minutes earlier - could the battery just give up on a the drive?

I'm glad it happened at the garage and not out and about.

[Craven]

Could be just a poor battery terminal connection, clean both up look for any corrosion or maybe the infamous poor battery chassis connection.

[Gordon Sauer]

Don’t know if you keep a trickle charger on it and then also a battery cut off as part of that, but one time I did not realize that I had not securely tighten down the big green knob that allowed me to connect and disconnect the battery and so I could get electricity that would show the fuel pump clicking, but not enough of a connection to turn the starter, so felt like a dead battery, Gordon

[UAB807F]

Assuming the battery is charging when the engine was running (no warning lights ?) then I'd look for a bad earth connection which is breaking down as you try to apply more current to start the car.

I'd use one of your jump leads to get a definite earth connection (battery to engine if it's long enough ?) and see if that works before doing anything else.

Brian

[RichardS]

Also worth checking connections to starter motor and back of ignition key barrel.
Richard

[Donels]

Batteries can fail suddenly particularly if they’re fairly old, so don’t discount it. I had one fail suddenly in a remote location. Only jumpstarting kept me going till I could get a new one.

[elansprint]

Engine to chassis earth if braided copper can corrode. Put jump lead from chassis to engine block and try again
Ian