Rover 400 - Rover 414i 1999 starting issue

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Wed 30 Jan 2019 14:03
Rover 400 - Rover 414i 1999 starting issue - Stuart Giles

Hi all, had an issue with my rover 414i 1999 model. I drove for about an hour no issues, I parked up for 10 mins, drove for another hour no issues, parked up for half hour and then drove 2 mins around the corner, went back to the car 20 mins later and nothing, just a click....tried bumping car and nothing, tried jump leads, nothing, all lights were on and fine, moved car to safe area and decided to see if I could find a solution, went back to car after a few hours and after a click, a second of struggling it started and drove me home fine, checked it this morning and slight struggle(maybe due to cold weather) it started and has had no problems since....only thing I noticed was water tank seemed to have gone low but can see no leaks anywhere, all temps were fine but could something have over heated causing the issue? Or could something be on its way out? Just seemed strange that after a few hours of cooling it seemed fine, any help would be appreciated.

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Wed 30 Jan 2019 15:19
Rover 400 - Rover 414i 1999 starting issue - elekie&a/c doctor
I would suggest you check battery and it’s connections first. Also these suffer bad connections at the starter motor.
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Wed 30 Jan 2019 15:57
Rover 400 - Rover 414i 1999 starting issue - Stuart Giles

If it was battery would it not have started off bump or jump leads tho? Connections to starter motor look like it may need a clean, I'll give them all a clean up and see how it goes, just seems strange how it suddenly decided to start after sitting for a few hours .Thanks

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Thu 31 Jan 2019 03:56
Rover 400 - Rover 414i 1999 starting issue - sajid

Possible dodgy earth connectors check your wiring. Also measure the voltage of the battery when the engine is running

Otherwise it could be the wiring leading to the starter motor u probsbly have to check

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Thu 31 Jan 2019 17:47
Rover 400 - Rover 414i 1999 starting issue - Stuart Giles

So after a few days of car running fine....today it done it again, this time I managed to bump start it, does this suggest anything different? Also it only seems to happen once the car has been driven a few times then stopped.

Edited by Stuart Giles on 31/01/2019 at 17:54

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Fri 1 Feb 2019 12:23
Rover 400 - Rover 414i 1999 starting issue - Gibbo_Wirral

I had this, it was a faulty starter, even though it would strongly turn over the engine.

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Fri 1 Feb 2019 15:06
Rover 400 - Rover 414i 1999 starting issue - Cris_on_the_gas

I would think this is a faulty starter motor. Or more exactly most likely just the solenoid which is attached to the starter. You used to be able to buy just the solenoid and replace this with the old starter motor. If you buy a new starter motor it will contain a new solenoid.

It was my experience that the starter motor never expired it always seemed to be the solenoid but most peeps changed them both. If your looking to save cash then if you can find a solenoid they are quite easy to change. Once the starter motor is removed you should notice a smaller cylinder attached, this is the bad boy. A solenoid is another name for a relay. It will engage mechanically the spindle of the starter motor into the flywheel then apply electrical voltage to the starter motor. For this reason when this type of starter motor was introduced many years ago (1970's ?) it was called a pre-engaged starter. This was opposed to the old bendix drive starter which used the inertia of the turning starter to engage the flywheel.

Back in the day a common trick was to give the solenoid a gentle tap with a hammer or stout stick if the car would not start. Normally this did the trick. Back in the early 1990's I had a Ford Escort Mk3 and had a broom handle for this purpose for many months.

Edited by Cris_on_the_gas on 01/02/2019 at 15:14

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