brat wont start.engine electrical gurus please reply

[roadtojoy123]

so. my 82 brat wont start. for a while it was having trouble in the cold and now just wont start. doesnt even try to turn over. starter makes clicking noise when key in on position; all other electronics work. no voltage going to starter from ignition. any suggestions? im not an electrically competent dude.

[bratman18]

so. my 82 brat wont start. for a while it was having trouble in the cold and now just wont start. doesnt even try to turn over. starter makes clicking noise when key in on position; all other electronics work. no voltage going to starter from ignition. any suggestions? im not an electrically competent dude.

 

Try jumping it! Sometimes there is enough voltage to run electronics in the vehicle but not enough to turn the motor over. So I would start there especially since you said it was cols out!

[nipper]

Start with replacing or recharging the dead battery.

 

 

nipper

[Caramanos2000]

CLEAN the battery terminals would be were id start and recharge it If not try running a wire from the alternator lead to the positive on the battery (just a hunch)

[roadtojoy123]

tried cleaning charging batery, and hokin up to alternator, nothing. any other suggestions? is there a schematic floating around anywhere? it seems to be a wiring issue in the ignition-al region.

[XT6 Magic]

Turn the key on and try jumping the small terminal of the starter to the battery cable positive with a screwdriver or something. Make SURE it isn't in gear first if it's a manual trans or it might start and drive away without you!

 

On my 83 GL the wire from the ignition switch to the starter failed somewhere in the harness and I had to run a new one. The symptoms were similar to yours (click only on a cold morning). Also check the 10 gauge short wire from the positive battery cable to the fusible link box on the fender well. There can be a dirty or corroded connection at either end of the short power wire causing the same symptoms.

 

Lastly the starter motor/solonoid contains 2 "L" shaped contacts that wear out from arcing over time. Improved larger contact area copper replacements are available to cure the click no start conditions caused by the old worn out ones. These are only a couple of dollars and are very easy to install yourself. Look for the wire connections on the starter motor under the small rubber boots. The contacts are inside the end cap.

 

These tips are all assuming a good fully charged battery with clean cable connections is installed.

 

Good Luck,

-Jeff

Edited December 8, 2008 by XT6 Magic

[zyewdall]

Is it a little click, or a loud click? I've had problems with EA81 and EA82 starters in that when they fail, the solinoid clicks loudly, but nothing else happens -- started doing it every 10th time, and finally got to the point where it did it 95% of the time, instead of starting. New starter fixed it in that case. If you jump 12volts directly to the solenoid (thus bypassing all the other stuff), and measure that it's still at least 12 volts or so, and it still won't spin, then it's probably the solenoid/starter assembly itself.

 

Z

[roadtojoy123]

thanks for all the advice. tommorow I will attempt to jump direct to the starter, and see if the starter is the issue. i dont think its clicking any louder than it used to...only difference is now instead of turning the engine, it just clicks. it could very well be a bad connection somewhere, as previous to no start, on cold mornings it would take a couple of key-turns with no turn over to get her started, but once warm, started right up. ill start to fuss with it some more tommorow and see if one of your awesome suggestions is the issue. hopefully.

[bratman18]

Ah I just had another idea...earlier this year my brat did a similar thing. I found that the little ground wire that plugs onto a little spade connector on my starter had broken and wasn't making contact. So maybe look into that? Just a thought.