Why Won't My Car Start?!

[frodo_monkey 0]

Please can somebody help with an annoying problem with my racecar:

 

It just doesn't seem to want to start by itself, and I'm nearly out of ideas. Just as an aside, I've put the battery into the cockpit in a fibreglass box on the passengers side floor, and the car now starts on switches as opposed to with a key.

 

When I make the Battery Master switch live, then make the Ignition switch live (you can hear the fuel pump come live at this point), then press the Start button, I get a click the first time, then nothing. After that first time, not even a click... I've replaced the battery with a brand new one as I thought that may be at fault, and theres no difference. I've tightened & cleaned-up the earth, and since moved it to somewhere better, and still no difference. But every time I try to jumpstart it from my big diesel pickup, it goes first time.

 

This led me to get the multimeter out, to see what was going on - the alternator is charging, and both batteries sit at about 14.3V with power off the car. With the ignition on, theres a small continuous decrese (as you might expect), then when I attempt to start it, the voltage rapidly drops to 13V, but the car does nothing. After I turn the Ign off, it goes straight back up to 14.3V and sits there. This is the same with both batteries, both 063-type, with one brand-new from Halfrauds.

 

Does anybody have any good ideas, apart from beating the car to death with a hammer?!

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Frodo

[frodo_monkey 0]

Nudge to the top...

 

Any genius car sparkys out there?

 

Ta, Frodo

[Anthony 1,003]

Where are you connecting the jump leads from the pickup when it starts? Are you putting them direct to the battery terminals in the boot, or are you connecting under the bonnet?

[frodo_monkey 0]

Direct to the battery, which sits next to me inside the car... Worked the same when the battery was under the bonnet