I had another episode with the starter today. I had just walked out of the dentist’s office and got into the Range Rover turned the key and got, click. Turned it again, click. And again, click.
I called the wife (at work), son (at the Y), nephew (at the Y), Fireman Jason (at the station 8), and finally Mrs. Fisher (at work but leaving) for help. Mrs. Fisher offered her Pontiac for a jump. No go. So she gave me a ride home where Mr. Fisher picked me up and we took the battery for testing.
After a short (5 minute) charge and test, the battery registered good. So we took the battery back to the Range Rover, installed it, and turned the key. Of course, it started.
So this brings us to, “What.The.Hell?”
- Brand new starter. Check.
- Brand new battery. Check.
- Old alternator off a Range Rover at Pull-A-Part. Check.
What on earth could it be? Yeah, so tomorrow I will swap out my crappy OEM alternator and install my new alternator from NAPA. If you are keeping up, I had a failed alternator about a year ago and swapped my spare (the now old alternator) with my dead NAPA. Took the NAPA alternator down and had it replaced under its lifetime warranty (third time). I will probably take the alternator down to Bob at Northwest Alternators and Starters and have him test it for me. If its failed, I’ll inquire about him fixing it for a bench spare.
Pro Tip: Always keep your receipts.
I am hoping that this will be the end of the starting issues. At this stage I am not ruling out replacing all the cables to the alternator and to the battery in this circuit. While I don’t believe they have failed, they probably could use replacement. They are, after all, 20 years old.
Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.
It could be loose contact on one or both battery posts! (Always use a wrench to tighten the nuts!). It could be the overheated capacitor in the ignition amplifier (don’t know what it is tho…). Or broken tooth on the flywheel (but that wouldn’t explain successful start afterwards)
I don’t think its a broken tooth. The battery posts were tight when I took the battery out. I’m thinking the cables are perhaps past their prime or the alternator is misbehaving. Thanks for the help.
Put a voltmeter between the battery positive post and the starter terminal. Engage starter. This will measure the voltage drop across the cable. Anything more than a one or two volt drop indicates problem with the terminals or the cable itself.
Good tip. Thanks.
Update: I have the new NAPA alternator on. We’ll see how the battery does for a few days. I will definitely get the Evil German on the phone for the new battery cables. No one I know knows more than him about wiring power. He’ll probably want to use some ridiculous “0” (single aught) thick cable.