34
You could pretty much guarantee that he wouldn't treat his own car like this
Starter motors are not designed for continuous use and will overheat due to the high currents involved and should be left to cool down after use. If they overheat, the enamel insulation could be burnt off the copper coils causing shorts, or plastic components could melt. I ...
30
All electric motors consume more current at startup compared to steady state. Check out the label on your fridge for example (or look at this one): the max current on the label is 2-3 times higher than the value you'd obtain from power to voltage ratio.
The reason behind this lies in the properties of electric motors. Approximately, such motors have torque ...
27
If your friend is moving your vehicle without your consent and does so deliberately your friend is committing a crime. Vehicle theft. If you are asleep when this happens then consent was not given. I would suggest that you have a police officer have a long discussion with this individual about this. If this individual when moving your vehicle hits another ...
27
If the battery is completely dead, especially after sitting for two years, it most likely won't take a charge. Without the battery getting charged, you most likely don't have enough juice coming through the jumper cables to give it the power it needs to turn the Aztec over. Double check the voltage at the battery without the jumper cables on it. If it is ...
26
I'll make it very simple for you, Dave.
Just remove the relay highlighted, in yellow, from the diagram above.
This goes to the starter.
20
Remove the publicly available key.
Make one copy of the key for each person or household who needs to be able to move the car. Give a key to each person and have them sign an agreement that they will not loan their key to anyone else.
If the individual is still able to move the car, he probably made an unauthorized copy, in which case you should contact ...
15
It takes a LOT of power to get the rotating assembly - crank, pistons (or rotors), etc. - moving. For reference, try turning your engine over with a breaker bar on the crank. It's not super-easy (though some of that is due compression).
All the parts in the rotating assembly - crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons, valves, camshafts, timing chain - add up ...
13
It's the battery
Starting an engine takes a much larger energy impulse than jumper cables can deliver directly through their typically-thin wires and the small surface area of their alligator clamps. (Unless you use very heavy jumper cables).
So the way jump starting works, is you slowly add enough energy to the weak battery until it's charged up enough ...
11
The starter circuit should only draw whatever current it needs so the excess shouldn't cause any problem.
11
It can actually be the solenoid or the brushes which are at fault and take to getting a beating ... those masochistic machines! They just like it for some reason, lol.
Most solenoids are built with a large copper washer in the end of them. When the solenoid is energized, the plunger is sucked into the solenoid via electromagnetic forces and pushes the copper ...
10
Those numbers are the max that they can supply. Your starter will "automatically" use as much as it needs up to the max. If the starter needs more than those units can supply, the jumper will only provide its max.
If your battery is only partly dead, i.e. it won't start, but the interior lights come on, you can use a smaller jumper than if your battery ...
10
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Maybe?
As long as it is a 12v motorcycle starter relay you should be fine. The problem is whether or not it will fit your bike physically (that is whether the size of the solenoid will fit into the compartment designated in your motorcycle, and whether you have bullet, spade etc etc).
I have used a few of the cheap Chinese ...
10
I work for a fleet delivery service. Due to safety regulations all vehicles must be shut off at every delivery point. This equals up to 150 stops a day. The starter motors fail with regularity. In most cases 3 times or more a year. Ignition switches about twice a year, and fly wheels every 2 years. While you won't see this type of abuse,stuff will wear out. ...
10
I believe your clutch safety switch has been damaged
You have a switch underneath your clutch lever.
It forces you to pull the clutch in to start the bike.
There is a small phillips head #2 screw that holds in place. It can be adjusted and slid back and forth to engage properly with the clutch lever. You can see where the switch hits the lever if you ...
10
Others have already told you the battery is a goner, I'll go into why:
When a battery discharges lead sulfate builds up on the plates. It is deposited in very tiny crystals that will covert back to lead and lead oxide when the battery is charged again.
However, if the crystals are allowed to sit they slowly merge, forming big crystals. These won't revert ...
9
The amp count tells you the maximum amount of current that the equipment can supply.
Eg.
Your car needs 600 amps to start: The 1000 amp jumper can handle it.
Your car needs 1200 amps: The 1000 amp jumper can't do it. You'll have to find a bigger one.
Be aware that this does not apply to voltage. If you have a 6V battery and you connect it to a 12V ...
9
A characteristic of electric motors is that they produce the highest torque when stationary, coupled to this is a very high initial current 400 to 600A for cars and commercial starter motors can exceed 1000A.
Once they start to rotate the current demand goes down - remember that the pinion / flywheel ratio is 10 to 1 or more so when the engine is being ...
9
As stated in other answers, you really need to get your new housemate to start listening to you. If he doesn't respect your property, do you really want him living with you?
With regards to the vehicle, your simplest solution is unplugging something on the ignition side. Historically, you could unplug the king lead (from the coil to the distributor) but ...
8
As discussed in the comments already, the clicking you hear is probably the starter solenoid. You have ruled out a weak battery being the probable cause by attempting to the jump-start the engine. This means either the power cable running directly from the battery to the starter motor is too resistive/poorly connected, or that the starter motor itself is no ...
8
If you are hearing the starter turn (typical starter whir), the most probable problem would be the one way clutch has gone out. It's the part of the starter with the teeth on it which engages the starter ring gear. If the solenoid has gone out, the starter motor will not spin, because the solenoid is the part which forces a large copper washer into the posts ...
8
I've got the same sort of function on my Seat Leon (and on my old BMW 320D) - if you drop the clutch quickly enough it will move the car a little. Although I doubt that's enough to get you clear of a railway track.
I would err on the side of caution in the event of being stuck on the track/road etc and evacuate the car quickly and safely (i.e. pay ...
7
While your question is pretty thorough, I'm assuming a few things in this answer that you didn't clarify;
When you crank the engine, and it doesn't start, I'm assuming it's a smooth crank without hiccups. By that I mean it isn't trying to start, it just cranks.
You have the petrol model, not a diesel.
It uses an electronic push-button start mechanism.
From ...
7
It could also be the Crank Position Sensor. It is mounted on the flywheel cover and if it gets contaminated with dust from the clutch it can stop the engine from starting. It confuses the average guy as it looks like either a fuel or ignition problem. It is held in position with two bolts. Might be awkward to get to.
Hope this helps.
7
Starters quite commonly need to have "shims" added when they are installed. These thin pieces of metal act as spacers to make sure the gear on the starter lines up exactly with the teeth of the flywheel. If the starter is out of position even slightly, it can cause the starter to get "stuck" and remain engaged until the gear finally slides back into place.
...
7
Two possible failed parts: The ignition switch or the starter relay. The ignition switch would be either not returning to run or has failed electrically. The relay would have to be stuck on or commanded on by the Security ECU. The security system is not supposed to turn on the starter only stop it from working. It is the least likely failure.
7
If the picture you have attached is similar to the starter on you car, then the power to the starter motor is only delivered if the solenoid operates, so the solenoid must be working.
However, the shift lever labelled in the picture, that pushes the pinion forward to engage with the flywheel may be broken, that would explain your problem.
Your problem ...
7
From the picture it looks as if your brushes are completely worn out. If there's no other fault, that is (theoretically) an easy and cheap fix. It appears however that getting brushes for this particular starter isn't as easy as it normally should be.
For more information have a look at this thread:
http://www.tiger800.co.uk/index.php/topic,11947.0.html
as ...
7
To supplement kyle's answer I'll include this excellent animation, since a picture's worth a thousand keystrokes.
The section on Electrics and how the animation showing how the timing belt connects to the crankshaft to the cams is especially helpful.
7
To differentiate between the starter and the alternator you can check the battery voltage – should be about 12.6 with the engine off and 13.5-14.2 with the engine running if the alternator is doing its job.
You may have a failing starter. You can get a good take on this by taking a current reading while trying to start. Usually this is done with a ...
7
In 30 years of repairing these units I have never found one to have brushes and commutators that were worn beyond the service limit. The failure in these units is the solenoid contacts. These are not shown in the supplied picture. These contacts take a beating; they generally last about 100k miles. Almost all these starters can be repaired by replacement of ...
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