Will the starter from a TR or TS (Astron) fit a TP? I think mine has gone to Heaven. I had to leave the car at work last night as it wouldn't crank and I'm sure the battery is OK. Will check it out fully today.

However there is a TR starter on eBay at the moment for $15, so if that would fit, I will grab it. Does anyone know if they are different?

No matter. Mitsibits at Greenacre have a TP starter at a reasonable price and they are much closer. Also someone on eBay has them brand new for $132 plus $22 postage.

I'm still not 100% convinced it is the starter. It is definitely not the battery as I took it home and charged it overnight. Made no difference. The contacts are clean, so it is not that.

It could be the aftermarket central locking system and immobiliser that a previous owner fitted. It has been going stupid lately. The tosser who installed it did such a hack job that I'm not game to try removing it. I might never get the car working again. He chopped the whole wiring harness in half and spliced it in as rough as guts.

His wiring of the aftermarket radio/ tape player was not pretty either. I spent a day completely re-doing that because of intermittent problems. :rant:

it may just be the solenoid

do a bench test on the starter

TR should fit the TP 4 cyl

it may just be the solenoid

do a bench test on the starter


Solenoid is clicking. (That's not to say it is working) Haven't been able to get the starter off yet. It is parked on a busy road and dangerous to work on.

regards,
Coldamus

had a problem once with the lead to the starter

I had to buy a bolt on type batery terminal
then clean all the corrosion off the copper before bolting back to the battery

the other problem may to your key ignition itself

or the neutral starting switch at the gearbox

in regards to firrment definatley fits, they are a different model but fit right in.... had a tn and 3-4 wrecker motors later i got a good one, tr/ts both fitted no probs but one was burnt out and the other was stripped, got my $$$ back and got one from elsewhere 100% :P

if the solenoid is clicking over its gett some power, thing is is it getting full power to crank or just to operate the clicker.... mine was doing the same


have you had issues starting it before?

usually the starter give fair warning when it on the way out....


check for loose wires on the connections on the immobiliser, and an over ride switch to shut if off if you can...

i once spent 2hrs (almost) in my 1991 Lux clicking but nothing else.... and bashing the starter!

then checked the stoopid immobiliser, looked ok but had bad connection, pushed conection plug in firmly and started instantly.... then felt like an idiot hahaha

Thanks for the suggestions, magna_buff and andrewd. To answer some of the questions: There was very little warning. It has always started at first touch of the key but the day before this happened, there was a slight gear clashing noise when I went to start it after work. It sounded like when you hit the starter accidentally when the motor is still running. The same happened next morning.

In both cases the noise was only slight and it started with only two or three seconds cranking. Then when I came to start it again after work it made the same noise for about a second and then nothing - dead as a dodo ever since. I had to give up on it today. I don't finish work until after 6pm, so only have about half an hour of daylight to look at it. I am driving my TP sedan in the meantime. (the wagon has the problem).

I think the fact that the solenoid is clicking should eliminate the immobiliser and the neutral safety switch. I was suspicious of the cable to the starter but gave it a good jiggle and can't see or feel anything wrong with it. There's nothing else for it - I will have to take the starter off and have a look at it. I will probably do it on the weekend so that I can work in daylight.

regards,
Coldamus

the teeth to the starter or the starter ring gear needs to be inspected

Can you hear if the starter motor is even able to spin? Or humming or anything? If it is humming, then most likely it has jammed or completely failed. Another thing to definitely check is that the cables going to the starter solenoid are tight... I had an issue on mine with one of the nuts on the solenoid that went to the battery being a bit loose, and I guess the connection was bad enough that the starter couldn't get enough current to turn over. Tightened the connections and most the time the car starts in 1/2 - 1 crank, even when cold :)

Can you hear if the starter motor is even able to spin? Or humming or anything? If it is humming, then most likely it has jammed or completely failed. Another thing to definitely check is that the cables going to the starter solenoid are tight... I had an issue on mine with one of the nuts on the solenoid that went to the battery being a bit loose, and I guess the connection was bad enough that the starter couldn't get enough current to turn over. Tightened the connections and most the time the car starts in 1/2 - 1 crank, even when cold :)

I think it was humming. Hard to tell from the drivers seat. What I really needed, but didn't have, was an assistant to turn the key. I got the starter off and am not sure whether there was anything wrong with it. The small wire to the solenoid was off. It was probably knocked off in the struggle to get the starter out through the gap between the gearbox and the inlet manifold, injection system, water hoses etc. It is an absolute * of a job. Or it might have been loose and only getting a poor connection. The solenoid was definitely getting hot when I was attempting to start it, so there must have been some sort of connection.

Having got the starter out, I tried to test it. Bear in mind I was doing this on the street in traffic, not in a workshop. It certainly seemed to turn as I could see the sprocket fly out when I hit the key but again it was difficult to be sure from the drivers seat with the starter sitting on top of the engine and no proper earth strap. Also it might not work under load. Anyway, I wasn't going to put it back and maybe not fix the problem, so I bought one from a wrecker for $55.

Now a dire warning to anyone else doing this. Be absolutely sure the replacement is the same. Someone else already said that. I can't remember who. When I compared them, the one from the wrecker was an inch or two longer (both the solenoid and the starter). Still it had the same shape and mounts so I thought it would be OK.

This morning I went back to the car and tried to fit it. Damn thing wouldn't go in because it fouls on the brace that supports the fuel injection system. I spent about two hours at it. So I went back to the wreckers and of course they are closed for the weekend. Grrrhh!

So, back to the car and after half an hours struggle, I managed to undo the bottom of the brace. (difficult because it was very tight and in the confined space you can't get much leverage). I pushed it back enough to maneouvre the starter into place. Then another half an hour's juggling to get the starter bolts to line up and tighten them. Thank god for ratchet sockets!

It worked, so I was able to start the car and move it to a safer spot until I go back by train to collect it. I still need to put the brace back into place. I haven't checked yet but I think there is enough room for it once the starter is in place. It wouldn't be nice for it to rotate back and short on the solenoid cables.

So the moral of this story is to ensure your replacement starter is identical to the one you took out. Just because the mounts are the same doesn't mean it will fit. I assume the longer starter was from a carby model which would not have had the brace to get in the way.

regards
Coldamus

Good to hear it's all working again :thumbsup:

Sounds like if it was humming, the motor may have jammed for whatever reason. If the small wire was disconnected the solenoid wouldn't even be clicking, so I don't think that would have been an issue.

The starter motors have a form of clutch in them I think, and maybe if a gear has failed in there or something, or the starter motor lost a coil or something, it may have stopped the whole thing working. That's about all I could put it down to.

But as long as it works again, then grats :D