Won't Crank Over After W/p & C/b Change Test Drive

[moonspacmman9]

Hi guys ( and maybe girls )

I've been a long time browser , but just signed up as Im in trouble :( :

And after reading a fix or two on hear I through ill try you lot :D

I will try to give as much info as poss , so please bear with me

1996 1.6 Zetec Escort daily driver no real problems

My car's MOT run's out @ the end of this month so I through ill do a few bits @ the start of the month to get a jump start for the MOT . Got some new rubber on the front corners , a bulb and a whiper blade , also did a filter and fluid change and I noticed a water leak , on further inverstigation it is .....

Yer you got it ... the water pump :(

Ordered a new w/p and a c/b kit ... cleaned up the said area as my p/s was leaking, striped her down and replaced the w/p and c/b kit after a few half days hear and there in my back garden

so the time to start her up was upon me , so turned the crank 2 full turns and double checked the timing marks ... BANG ON .. wow great feeling pleased with myself , had a cup of tea cookie and a smoke . had to check again so 2 more turns , all lined up aok :) battery back on coolant topped up , s/p still out crancked her over for around 5 seconds , spanner on the crank and again all linded up :) Put Mr Sparky's back in and turned the key , fired up pretty much on the button :D what a wonderfull feeling :D

let her idle while I finished me tea and smoke ( cookie was nice so it got eaten very quick ) put the heater on just in case air locks , turned her off top up coolant , starts up again fine , so took a little chiled drive , come back and parked up. Couple of hours later I was offf out 4 the night , so jumped in turn the key .. nothing :( .. made tea and a plate of cookies and got next door to help me bump start it .. she jerked into life :) So my thinking was started motor , took s/m off the car and looked in a old haynes manule for a different ford and said about testing the s/m with a battery 2 jump leads ( I used two bits of house cooker wire ) did the said test and heard and sore the starter motor solenoid thing jump out with the gear that engages with the ring tooth flywheel , So I think ok its fine , so put back in and she started again :) Now I thinking it was just a loose connection on the s/m .. but then heard a high pitched nosie , pop the bonnet , smoke , quick look 2 c where it was coming from .. turn off , the smoke was coming from the s/m or solenoid .. So a trip to the local scrap yard and ££ later fitted another s/m .. checked battery and still had a charge so time to start .. again she did , so left her running for a min or 2 then turned off waiting a min or 2 and restarted , on start up all ok then after a min or 2 I heard a high pitched nosie again :( , this time the bonnet was up looked and sore smoke coming from s/m area again , turned off.

Now bear with me on this next bit .. she bumped started again after 2 smokey s/m .. does the solenoid engage and dissengage the s/m teeth with the flywheel teeth ? cause it seems to me this is whats going on ?? its not disengaging and thats why it smokes after a whille ?? where does it get the signel to cut power to the s/m and disengage itsself ??

Do you know what that blue wire is that comes from the red power lead from the battery that goes to the plastic s/m connector and then goes into the loom where the earth cable is on the pully's side ? Does that have anything to do with the Passive Anti Theft System ?? Could there be a problem there in reguards to disengaging the s/m and thats why the s/m smoke's

I hope you are still with me lol .. I would be very gratefull if any of you with idears can post your throught's on this as I'm proper

Ill update this if I try anything else hehe

Thanks people

[lublin]

Hello moonspacmman9. My first thoughts are, have you trapped a wire and it's shorting out? Look at the starter motor (#2 top left diagram) I think your problem is with the gray and black wire that goes from the starter motor to #6 which is called Link (?) on a manual gearbox or starter inhibitor on an automatic. Check the wires and relay? here as this seems to be where the problem is.

[moonspacmman9]

Hi lublin

Thank you for your reply and idear

I will get back under and try and trace the said wire

Also is there anyway I can test the relay ?

Thanks

[lublin]

Yes, if you turn it over you can apply a currant 12v to the terminals that have constant currant when activated and then test to see it if makes a circuit on the other terminals, I suppose it could be making constant contact on those terminals but they normally fail the other way round i.e. no circuit when power applied to the other terminals. A rough test is if you hear it 'click' when power is applied, but it's only a roadside test, really.

[moonspacmman9]

replaced the wire and the relay and she now startts :D

thanks for your input Lublin

[lublin]

I'm glad you got it working. :)