I thought I'd share this experience I had this week with my ol' Magna Tr.

Left the house at 6,30 to go to work on Wednesday, car wouldn't start. First time in the 2 years I've had it, gutted the ol' gal let me down. Cranked over ok, not even a hint it was going to start. So, first thing to do, check the plugs. Took one out, put on top of the engine, cranked it, had spark. So must be fuel- I wouldn't know where to start looking. I cleaned the plugs anyway, but still wouldn't go. So called up RACV. Went back indoors to have some breakfast!
Must have been a busy (cold) morning for the RACV fella as it took him an hour to arrive. Reverses his van down the drive, and gets out his electric meter and I tell him I've already checked the spark. He tells me to crank it over, and stops me after a few seconds.
Then he grabs a huge rubber mallet "When in doubt" he goes, "hit it with a hammer!". Tells me to start it up again, whack, whack, whack under the car just in front of the rear wheel, car fires up like nothing was wrong!
"Fuel pump's gone, mate" He goes.

Best rescue I've ever had!!! It was brill. I was in shock of how funny it was, expecting him to get out all the gadgets to test the engine. Nah, 'it it wiv a big 'ammer!

He said "Sometimes the brushes in the pump get stuck" and said I should get a new fuel pump asap. So, new pump installed this afternoon- easy enough, didn't even need to undo the tank.

So there's my advice, if ya car don't start, hit it! :facejump:

Same thing happened with my friend's old Calais but the RACV man took his hammer and metal rod to the starter motor instead

Same thing happened with my friend's old Calais but the RACV man took his hammer and metal rod to the starter motor instead

That's the good old seized started motor solenoid. Had that happen to me plenty of times in my old KS. Kept a small hammer in the car after RAA fixed it the first time. Only happens on hot start on hot days.

Likewise, happened a lot to my old Civic during the winter.

You'd be suprised just how often cars respond to being hit with a hammer to get them started. Started my sisters VN a few times like this (fuel pump)

Our old XD was started numerously when the starter solenoid crapped itself aswell.

lol had a similar thing with a mates VS commodore. We drove down to maccas one night and when we tried to leave it wouldn't start. Tried all sorts of things and eventually had a bunch of ther mates down who tried everything else. after about 2 hours we;d all given up. My mate standing there think just goes "Should just hit the thing, it fixes my tv" he then hit the alternator with a wrench. Another mate sitting in the front seat turned the key and it kicked over instantly... who woulda thunk it.

Same thing happened with my friend's old Calais but the RACV man took his hammer and metal rod to the starter motor instead

ditto...... i kept a long metal rod in the boot of my EA Falcon.... had to use it every second time i started the car

Just imagine taking a chick out to dinner, and then having to bash your engine 3 times for it to start lol

Actually...... imagine taking a chick out to dinner in an EA..... :eek2:

ditto...... i kept a long metal rod in the boot of my EA Falcon.... had to use it every second time i started the car

Just imagine taking a chick out to dinner, and then having to bash your engine 3 times for it to start lol

Actually...... imagine taking a chick out to dinner in an EA..... :eek2:

Imagine doing it in an XE falcon with one headlight, no speedo, crap everywhere, and the front passengers door had to be kicked open...

Nothing but class :2cool:

Similar thing happened with my magna, started fine drove to shops came out and it wouldn't start rang NRMA the guy hit the starter motor with a hammer and the car started up :happy:

Got a new starter motor fited and unblocked the rocker cover breather hose as it was blocked and caused oil to leak out of the filler cap onto the starter motor which caused it to die :eek2:

we did the same thing with my TR back in the day

i crawled under and punched it square in the nads while a mate cranked it

i remember when the RAC guy come out to replace my battery on my old excel
found that the alternator wasnt charging so descided to hit it with a hammer, he also dropped the hammer while the car was running lol
problem ended up being the cable wasnt on the alternator properly from getting the extractors replaced