Any mechanics around?

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Arniebear

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Wandering if anybody who knows anything about mechanics can shed any light on my situation!

7.5tonne 2000 plate iveco lorry has had an intermittent starting fault since july last yr!!

Its so far had a new starter motor, a new isolator and 2 new batteries yet it still isnt working as it should!!

Started fine at home sat, run it for 1hr40 journey, parked up enjoyed a lovely time xc schooling! Load up to leave and box wouldnt start to come home, it jumped off a tractor (literally connected the tractor up and it started straight away - so batteries werent dead) drove 1hr40 home and left it running, took straight to mechanics after unloading, switched engine off once there and it wouldnt start again (at that point it had been running for well over 2hrs)

Obviously i have left it with the mechanics but they are pretty stumped apprently!!

Didnt know if anyone else has had a similar issue? Im thinking perhaps a connection issue as once its running its runs fine, its just starting it! (all battery connections have been checked - anything else in the engine maybe?!)

Im just bored in work and mulling over what competitions im missing out on whilst its out of action!!
 
Not a mechanic, but when my wagon did this it was the alternator...so the battery wasn't being charged during running of the vehicle
 
My Landrover used to do this, and it was an immobiliser wiring problem. Don't know if your lorry has one though? So probably not much help, sorry :)
 
Dead battery wouldn't prevent it starting from the tractor, as your tractor battery is man enough to do the job alone.
I would suspect alternator (or connection from alternator to battery), as it sounds as if the battery has not charged during the running time.
Alternatively, something could be draining power, or draining to earth, pulling charge from the battery faster than it can be put in.
 
sychnant said:
My Landrover used to do this, and it was an immobiliser wiring problem. Don't know if your lorry has one though? So probably not much help, sorry :)
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as far as im aware no immobiliser!

pennyturner said:
Dead battery wouldn't prevent it starting from the tractor, as your tractor battery is man enough to do the job alone.
I would suspect alternator (or connection from alternator to battery), as it sounds as if the battery has not charged during the running time.
Alternatively, something could be draining power, or draining to earth, pulling charge from the battery faster than it can be put in.
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see i was thinking this but i used is on tuesday and it ran fine, then didnt use it until sat where it started fine at home was just when we were out it wouldnt start to come home, surely if the alternator wasnt charging the batteries it would have been dead at home sat morning after using it on the tue?! or perhaps it was the fact it went on a longer run on sat?!
 
Sounds like an intermittent alternator fault. Have you have any other odd electrical problems? Stuff like variation in the fuel gauge reading, or indicators flashing faster or slower than they should? Even if briefly.
 
Beausmate said:
Sounds like an intermittent alternator fault. Have you have any other odd electrical problems? Stuff like variation in the fuel gauge reading, or indicators flashing faster or slower than they should? Even if briefly.
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Funny you say that!! The drivers side indicator, when you put it on, the break lights come on and the indicator doesnt work and then when you take it off the indicator stays on!! (All of that is intermittent thou so not every time you use it!) Also we have lost all power to the cigarette lighter and stereo system (i assumed that was just a fuse thou! Although hasnt been checked yet - guess it could be related?!!)
 
Magnetic Sparrow said:
First thing I would do is to check the earth strap. It sounds like there is a bad connection somewhere.
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Excuse the ignorance... Whats one of those? And where can it usually be found?!

(I do sometimes wander how i passed my licenses!! I have zero vechicle knowledge!!!)
 
Mine had a very similar sounding problem, when I went to start it everything would go totally dead (all dash lights off, blowers off, the lot) - like it was kicking the isolator off when you tried to start it. A new isolator seems to have fixed the problem.
I see you've already replaced yours. Before mine was fixed a suggested cause was the earth strap so would be worth checking.
Not the foggiest where it is but your mechanic should know.
 
little_critter said:
Mine had a very similar sounding problem, when I went to start it everything would go totally dead (all dash lights off, blowers off, the lot) - like it was kicking the isolator off when you tried to start it. A new isolator seems to have fixed the problem.
I see you've already replaced yours. Before mine was fixed a suggested cause was the earth strap so would be worth checking.
Not the foggiest where it is but your mechanic should know.
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We have all the dash board lights etc on when you make the first turn of the key, when you make the second turn your hear clicks but the engine doesnt kick in, sort of the sound of dead batteries, but we know the batteries arent completely dead as we have an hydraulic ramp.... which works off the batteries so if they were dead the ramp would be too! uness of course the batteries are too low to start the engine but are holding enough power to power the ramp?! It just doesnt add up to me to be dead batteries everytime, ive jumped many many cars over time with flat batteries and the lorry just doesnt sound the same! Also prior to it going in for the same fault 3 weeks ago i attempted to start the engine 10x...... 4 out of those 10x it didnt go but the remaining 6 it did.... i basically started it as normal if it went i left its running for 5-10 mins then turned it off and started it again as no body would believe me it was an intermittent fault! I even videoed it! Surely if that was dead batteries it would need a jump/external power supply to go? The mechanics said it was batteries that time and replaced them.... clearly that wasnt the full issue as its back in again with the same fault!!

The mind does boggle with this one!! I will speak to my mechanics tomorrow and suggest things like alternator and the earth strap!
 
Yes - that sounds exactly like mine. Either it started first time with no issue at all (fired immediately, no turning over) or it would click click click (just the starter relay activating but the engine not turning at all) or nothing would happen at all (no attempt to turn, no clicking) and everything would go off.
Generally turning the isolator off and on again would make it work.
As I said - we've replaced the isolator and it seems to be fixed....however I've only had two outings since the fix so it may happen again.
As it never seemed to struggle to start (either it started first time or not at all) I discounted batteries as the issue.
It's off having it's MOT and service at the moment, it will be interesting to hear if they have any problems with it.

PS mine is also an Iveco
 
Given the lighting issues there will be an intermittent earth fault in the wiring system. The light / indicator issues are a classic symptom of this.
The most likely reason for not starting will be the earth fault stopping the relay in the starter circuit from making connection.
I would be getting the services of an auto electrician, not a mechanic to deal with this.
 
I would suggest that somewhere on your wiring or wiring loom the insulation has been damaged or a wire worked loose and it is shorting across the wires or too earth. As above a good auto-electrician should be able to trace the precise location of the fault.
 
I definitely know nothing regarding vehicles, but as stab in the dark as it sounds similar to what our pickup does atm, and having googled it I've come up with - Solenoid? Our pickup starts sometimes immediately, sometimes just dead, then eventually goes, sometimes just clicks - haven't got around to taking it to garage yet, but if you find out what yours is let us know!
 
Your mechanics need to get the meter on everything electrical & follow it all through. I appreciate that you've changed both the batteries but sometimes one of the batteries is faulty & doesn't hold charge. Have a meter put on each of them & check what the reading is. Both should give you a reading of above 12 v, if one doesn't then replace it.
 
Thanks guys you've confirmed my suspicions that its an electrical fault.... Fingers crossed when they've found it its a quick/easy fix!!!
 
Arniebear said:
Thanks guys you've confirmed my suspicions that its an electrical fault.... Fingers crossed when they've found it its a quick/easy fix!!!
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You obviously have a fault somewhere because of your lights misbehaving, but for anyone else, I had similar intermittent failure to start recently and it was the barrel in the ignition switch that you put the key in failing to make contact.
 
My lorry did this too!!!!!Get mechanic to check wiring to starter motor and solenoid. Both were loose on mine, once tightened it never did it again.
 
RatzFatz said:
My lorry did this too!!!!!Get mechanic to check wiring to starter motor and solenoid. Both were loose on mine, once tightened it never did it again.
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Thanks will add it to the list!! I knew HHO would be able to help!!

ycbm said:
You obviously have a fault somewhere because of your lights misbehaving, but for anyone else, I had similar intermittent failure to start recently and it was the barrel in the ignition switch that you put the key in failing to make contact.
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Another item to add to the check list when i give them a ring later on! Thank you!!
 
If it were me I would buy a battery boost thingy, although in theory they might not be man enough to start a big diesel on a a cold morning, I suspect it would work in this instance.
There are smart ones you can use on laptop etc, cost a bit more but they are very portable. http://www.amazon.co.uk/1byone-OUK0...id=1433834267&sr=8-5&keywords=battery+starter
If the alternator is not charging the battery, it would probably have died by now and all the belts worn out [as happened to me when Quick Fit told me there was nothing wrong with my battery grrrrrrrrr]. So I agree with intermittent fault, I have one in my speakers, and even if the van is not running and I am sitting still, the radio speakers go off and on in a seemingly random pattern.
 
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Bonkers2 said:
If it were me I would buy a battery boost thingy, although in theory they might not be man enough to start a big diesel on a a cold morning, I suspect it would work in this instance.
There are smart ones you can use on laptop etc, cost a bit more but they are very portable. http://www.amazon.co.uk/1byone-OUK0...id=1433834267&sr=8-5&keywords=battery+starter
If the alternator is not charging the battery, it would probably have died by now and all the belts worn out [as happened to me when Quick Fit told me there was nothing wrong with my battery grrrrrrrrr]. So I agree with intermittent fault, I have one in my speakers, and even if the van is not running and I am sitting still, the radio speakers go off and on in a seemingly random pattern.
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we have a tractor starter thing but it has to plug into the mains to work thou so not exactly helpful when im sat in a field at an event!! I dont mind buying things like that as a precaution should things go wrong once in a while but when its happening every time i go out, id rather the lorry went in got repaired fully and the issue solved than not! I tend to event on my own and my biggest fear is being stuck somewhere with my horse!

Thankfully when i dropped the lorry off on sat, it wouldnt start again so at least they can see what the intermittent fault is, they just need to find where it is coming from and fix it! far better than me turning up moaning it isnt working and the stupid thing working perfectly! ohh the joys of competing horses! it all just adds to the stress!
 
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