Starter Motor Problems

[surreychris]

Hi All

My 2001 E220 CDI has been having starting problems over the last few weeks which has been getting worse.

The problem appears to be a starter motor problem. The symptons are that when i turn the key I only hear a click from the engine bay which i was assuming was the starter motor or maybe could just be a relay.

It is worst first thing on the morning and can take 5-10 minutes before the starter will kick into life.

It is taking longer to start and yesterday after half an hour i still couldnt get it to start.

The strange thing is when the starter motor does decide to spin the car starts very quickly.

I was thinking the starter solenoid is on the way out but have also considered an issue with the immobiler system.

I also thought it could have been battery related as the battery lost all its charge a cpl of times in the last 2 months when the car was not used for a few days. The battery is a year old and I took it to halfords today and they checked it and said it was only 55% charged (it would be after 30 mins attempting to start it yesterday) but showed no faults.

Any ideas guys, any usual problems with these engines/cars?

Thanks as ever

Chris

 

[markmifsud]

battery drain somewhere? measure the current drawn with the car powered off for at least 20 mins

 

[arkamelis]

im having the same issue to, could it be damage to the fly wheel, iv been told to crank the engine half a turn, and try again, if turns over then ok, it might be a damaged section on the fly wheel were the teeth have worn and when the engine stops it is always on this section. im not sure myself but i need to find out, going to have car remaped this weekend

 

[LouFer]

I had a very similar problem on my C270... turn the key and just a 'click'.
It turned out to be the battery, it was on it's way out. I think mercs have some sort of voltage cut off that won't allow the starter to fully operate if the battery voltage is less than a certain level. Remember, battery voltage levels are critical in our cars, as many of the ECU's throughout the car depend on a certain voltage level to make references from.

Don't trust the Halfords chaps. My experience with them are .... well, let's just say I won't ever go back there for advice.

It might be as markmifsud said that there is likely a battery drain. Or, it could be a dud battery that just won't hold its charge anymore (very possible). I would start by trying to jump start the car from another car to see if this will prove the battery fault (make sure you have heavy duty jump leads as it's a diesel, and draws a lot of amperage).

 

[arkamelis]

do hope its not the same problem that iv just found out, teeth worn on fly wheel. major pain in the ass

 

[surreychris]

Hi All

I tried to jump start the car with my son's car and it still would only click so I sort of ruled out the battery, tho thats not to say i dont have a drain and when I can find my multimeter leads I will check that.

I bit the bullet and purchased another starter from GSF, for £101 incl vat and fitted it today.

Car now starts first turn of the key so i'm happy now. I did read that you can remove the starter and grease it and they could work again but for that price and considering the old one lasted 221k miles i guessed it deserved a new one.

Bit tricky to fit, especially the top bolt but not as hard as others I have done, dont ask how hard my in-laws vauxhall zaffira was to fit!

All I need to sort now is a new rear wheel bearing (another thread) and a new set of shocks all round.

The cars near ready for the summer, with it's new dvd player fitted in the 2nd din, flip up screen in the front and a screen in each of the rear headrests. kid's cant wait to go for a days drive

Thanks for all the ideas

Chris