French Electrics!

[kate205gti 4]

What connections are there between the key and the starter motor please? My 205 has always been a bit slow to start on cold mornings, you turn the key and theres silence for a few seconds before it turns over - once it turns it fires up fine and always fires up straight away once its running, or if its warm weather or if its just been parked for a while

 

I drove it quite hard on saturday night then parked it up, but this morning it didnt even try and start at all so had to bump start it - theres no click to indicate a dodgy starter motor, and once it had started and gone up the road (ie: warmed up) it now starts straight away on the key again (had to stop and get petrol) so I'm thinking it must be condensation getting in somewhere overnight

 

any idea what connector I can spray with WD40 to fix it please?

[Anthony 1,003]

The only connections inside the engine bay is the brown multiplug of doom (although if memory serves me right that had been removed on yours and replaced by a black plug near the passenger headlight) and the connection on the back of the starter itself. There could have been repairs to the loom over the years of course, but impossible to say without seeing it.

 

The route inside the car is somewhat more torturous, going from the ignition barrel to the fusebox, back across the car to the brown multiplugs under the dash, probably with your alarm/immobiliser installed somewhere in the middle. This wiring rarely gives problem - problems inside the car are usually down to immobiliser problems (especially the poor standard most of them are installed to) and increasingly worn out ignition switches.

 

Don't rule out it being the starter itself that's faulty, although more often than not it's the other way around (ie works when cold, doesn't when hot)

[kate205gti 4]

ahh cheers i put in a new engine loom when i took the gti6 on emerald out and fitted the 8v though - so no multi plugs in the engine bay, only a decent white connector box under the steering column now - i also ripped the alarm out in disgust

I've sprayed WD40 over the starter connectors so will see if its any better tomorrow, could i jump start the starter motor to rule that out? although it doesnt click at all so i dont think its sticking, and it was sat for 9 hours today while I was at work and started straight away when i left, and guarantee it will start again now - its only in the mornings whens it been cold/damp overnight that its slow to start :s i'll take it off if i have to but its not as easily accessible without the throttle bodies

Edited October 17, 2011 by kate205gti

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

I've found the barrels to die over the years with the arcing over the years the contacts fail, The 2 I have replaced with brand new barrels fixed this very fault but there are not cheap.

[brumster 135 1 Cars]

Short the battery power terminal on the starter to the solenoid wire just above it, and see if the starter cranks over good. If it doesn't, it's clearly the starter, an earth strap or else just poor voltage/cabling to the starter itself (ie. battery leads or the battery condition itself). Will at least help you rule out the low-current trigger circuit. Just make sure it's not in gear when you do it