Wont start

Hi all, my son has just inherited a 1.6 Puma in black, nice looking car and has apparently had a lot of work done, it does seem to be a bit rust around the rear arches, so my first question is, are replacement arch panels available.

Next question is a bit more pressing, !, He inherited the car because it wont start, the story is that the car was running well, and was driven onto the drive where it was parked overnight,

The following morning it would not start, specifically, It would not turn over, a clicking could be heard, and the Gauges in the car were going up and down continually when trying to fire it up, The battery shows fully charged according to my charger, so ......... can anyone offer some guidance,

Where are all of the fuses located on these cars ? and could the immobiliser (factory standard) be interfering with things ?

Is it possible to run a direct feed to the starter using jump leads and in effect remove / check whether a fault lies in the ignition system ?

Cheers

Sayers

Hi.

The battery is flat. sounds as though a replacement is needed, Try checking all earth connections first.
Regards,
Richard.

Hi Richard, thanks for the response, I checked the battery and it shows that it is fully charged ??? on the charger , I also took an earth from the neutral pole straight to the engine block. thoughts ???. Still to no avail

I've had this with 2 different cars I had bought and stored. The batteries had been left on the cars and hence went flat through lack of use.
They were both put on charge and showed as being fully charged but both failed to crank the engines.

A battery can show fully charged on a charger but not have the power/amperage to crank the engine.

Maybe try jump starting it from another car....

thanks , ill give it a whirl , the car was driven the night before which seems strange for the battery to suddenly die , but hey ho ,

http://www.pumapeople.com/wiki/index.php?title=Central_Fuse_Box
Relays Rear of Inside Fuses
Battery Junction Box Fuses 97-00
Battery Junction Box Fuses 00-02

Thanks, where are the fuse boards in these cars ??

There is a fuse box just infront of your right leg when you sit in the drivers seat (pull the panel with the slot like handle in it and it will come off) and there is another under the bonnet towards the back on the passenger side of the car

As said above, the problem is almost certainly the battery. The sweeping gauges only happen when there is low voltage from the battery. get the jump leads out and she should start fine

sayers said:

[post]351747[/post] Thanks, where are the fuse boards in these cars ??

Click to expand...

It tells you in the link at the top of my previous post.

And don't think that just because it was fine the night before battery is not dead.....modern batteries are designed that way, good charge for so long then...dead as a dodo overnight

Okay , ill give it a go and report back ASAP,

Thanks for everything so far chaps.

I'd have gone with a flat battery too, what does the voltage measure on it when it's off the charger?

If the battery is ok and jump leads give the same result check the engine isn't seized :-(

What about the starter solenoid? If battery is ok, that would be my first suspicion?

9 volts of the charger, im concerned about the starter solenoid theory , how do I check that ?

The battery's knackered.
Barry

9 volts is much too low

sayers said:

[post]351744[/post] thanks , ill give it a whirl , the car was driven the night before which seems strange for the battery to suddenly die , but hey ho ,

Click to expand...

a dead battery goes around 11.5V... 9V is... do you have any electrolyte in it?

I parked my car at my gf... around 18:00... next morning, 5:50... jump in, key in and same as above... new battery went in and all is fine...

As above, battery issue.

If you can get it jump started, I would do that first and check the charging voltage to see if the alternator is charging properly.
No point in buying a battery if a dodgy alternator caused the last battery failure...

also if the alternator is problematic... you can see...

when night, just start it up... get it running... if the battery light comes up a little bit... the diode array is gone...

that can eat up the battery easy