240 that won't turn over

So I gave my 240 to my cousin as going to college car and my dad
drove it down. The next day they tried to start it and they had to push
start it. I didn't ask how that went, but hopefully they popped the
clutch out in second gear. They figured the battery must have been
dead, but that wasn't really the case. The car has been sitting in
their driveway for about a month now and the front wheels are no locked
up, which makes it impossible to try and push start it again.
Finally, they called me and I checked out the car. When you turn
the key, I don't hear anything happen as if the starter is dead. I
don't remember if there was a surge in power, but I don't think there
was. Does the car need a new starter or should I check some fuses
first?

Thanks for any trouble shooting advice you can give,
Erik

As for the front wheels locking, I hoping to try and break them free
once I get the car going.

 

From a point at sea, to the circles of your mind, this is Erik:

Make sure the battery is fully charged. The starter uses a LOT of
energy, so a battery that can light up the dash may not necessarily
have enough juice to turn the starter.

Check the battery connections are OK.

There are two wires going to the starter motor - a big fat red one
that comes directly from the battery, and a smaller one next to it,
with a spade connector that pushes onto its terminal. Check that both
of these connections are sound.

If these all check out OK, pull off the smaller wire and take a fly
lead from the terminal to the battery +ve. For safety, connect it to
the starter terminal first, then to the battery. Be careful not to
short out this wire to anything else, or big sparks will fly (in fact,
you could acheive the same thing by linking the big starter terminal
to the small one, possibly by bridging them with a screwdriver, but
accessability may make this more difficult).

This should make the starter turn. If it does not, the fault lies in
the starter motor. If it does, the fault is in the key-switch or the
wiring.

How do you know it's the front wheels that have seized if the car
won't move? Could it be the handbrake to the rear wheels?


--

Stewart Hargrave

Faster than public transport


For email, replace 'SpamOnlyToHere' with my name

 

If the starter works by shorting it, and you think it is the solenoid, then
look on the underside of the solenoid for a second male spade connector. I
have found this on both my 740 and 240. Once mine wouldnt start, and I
moved the wire to the 2nd connector and it has been working since, this
leads me to believe there are two sets of contacts internally on the
solenoid.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. We tried starting the car while it was being
jumped, so I don't think it was the battery. You usually at
least here a click or the starter motor trying to go as you such each power
with each start.
We were trying to push the car forward and looked like the back wheels
were moving until the cars body shifted forward and dived to
the forward. I'm hoping that once we get the car started, we can probably
knock the brakes loose.

 

Just give the rims of the wheels locked a good belt with a hammer, should do
the trick.

Griz