Dodgy electrics???? need help....

[essexbloke]

Hi all - not been around too much lately -Still got the storm, but it's now been handed down to the wife... (she's now the official proud owner)

It's a W plate (2000) now done 39k miles (yup - nearly 40k!!)

It's developed a really annoying fault.... It lives on an optimate all year round, now only does approx 100 "dry" miles a month, but every now & then when we go out for a good run, it'll behave perfectly fine whilst running, but then we'll park up for a while - then go to restart it, and .... nothing... all the symptoms of a flat battery... (except we know it's not flat)

When we thumb the starter all we get is a loud clicking from under the rear cowl (seat). All the electrics die too.

When it does this - the only way to start it, is to bump it (not much fun).....


It doesnt do it all the time - just when it feels like it.... After bumping it - it's fine again....

Any ideas - anyone else experienced this?

I cant keep bump starting it - it's killing me....

[essexbloke]

We know it's not the batery - that's fine - err i'm a numpty when it comes to mechanics - you mention "reg" who/what is reg? seems to be a comn demoninator...

How much? where from? easy to replace?

[Max]

Have you checked the starter motor ?? make sure its clean etc check brushes or try another??

[richard]

no point guessing chap, get your multimeter out on the starter motor and battery and see where your power is going - reg/rec is not going to create a starter problem on its own - it would only over-charge battery or allow the battery to drain - a drained battery wont bump start ( no spark )...
optimate might be hiding a charging problem though....search posts as someone had a charging problem recently.

cheers
richard

[LotusSevenMan]

Cut and pasted this entry I made on the HOT STARTING topic. Seems very similar!!!!!!

We get a lot of grief from Caterham starter motors due to the headers being very close to the solonoid so crawling in traffic cooks it. Usual problem is after filling up at a petrol station and you get the 'click-of-death'! That's the solonoid on the starter not pulling in correctly. All you hear is a click.
Let it all cool down (having faced the shame of pushing it off the forecourt) and leave it a while. It then starts as if there was never a problem!!!

Suspect the 'Storm suffers a similar fate so clean all the starter components as in brushes and make sure all the electrical cables are cleaned too and making a good contact. Use an assembly grease like 'No Crode' on the terminals to ensure all is OK in that dept and....................................................... good luck!!!
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[baldzone]

I've come across the click of death on occasions and a few times it has been a loose battery terminal. Somehow they vibrate loose! Think I may have a dodgy screw in mine but may be worth a look.

[essexbloke]

I've managed to get hold of a suzuki replacment unit - nice and substantial - made of metal etc etc.... (thinking that it's got to be better than the plastic honda doo doo)

Any wiring guru's out there - been looking at the "how to" guide - but the suzuki's got different colour wiring.....

going from left to right - this unit has black (white stripe), white (blue stripe), yellow, white (red stripe) and red. they are all connected still to it's orig plug.

Any ideas on which wires match up to the honda? In which order?

Sorry - i get all panicky when it comes to electrics...

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