What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
Ford Escort van 1.8 TD - Starter motor fault - robvble

Hi there, Would be grateful if anyone could point me in the right direction.

I have a W reg escort van 1.8 TD, it has taken a long time to start for over a year, however after the recent mot it got worse and eventually I had to get the AA out to start it for me. I was told to start by replacing the starter motor as it was very slow. I got one sent out to me from a breakers which I fitted. On turning the key, nothing. I took it out again and checked it in the house, works fine. My question is, has something stopped the relay from sending current to the solonoid switch (I do not understand relays)?

Thanks for reading.

Ford Escort van 1.8 TD - Starter motor fault - elekie&a/c doctor

I don't think these have a starter relay.Are you sure the earth lead to the starter is attached?,it goes onto one of the mounting bolts.

Ford Escort van 1.8 TD - Starter motor fault - jc2

No relay;pre-engaged starter connected directly to battery-check all cables/earths-had a problem where cable was not making good contact in tag/terminal).

Ford Escort van 1.8 TD - Starter motor fault - mss1tw

Is the fuel pump coded to an immobiliser?

Even on my humble 1.9D Berlingo I think this is the case.

Ford Escort van 1.8 TD - Starter motor fault - robvble

Thankyou all for your thoughts, how I did it is a long story, but it turned out I had blown the fuse. Replaced that and it now whizzes round like a van half it's age.

Ford Escort van 1.8 TD - Starter motor fault - jc2

Then the "slow" cranking must have been something totally seperate!

Ford Escort van 1.8 TD - Starter motor fault - BG2020

Hi I know it's a long shot but can you remember what fuse it was that you replaced when you had the problem with your escort van and the starter motor as I am having a similar problem with an old orion.

Hope to hear from you soon thanks for your time.

Ford Escort van 1.8 TD - Starter motor fault - Railroad.

(I do not understand relays)?

Relays are very simple. A relay is a heavy duty switch. That is all. A standard four pin relay will have terminals numbered 30, 85, 86 & 87. Terminals 30 & 87 will be the contacts of the relay, and terminals 85 & 86 will be either side of the relay energising coil.

Of 85 and 86 one will be permanent either live or earth and the other will be switched either live or earth. It doesn't matter which, but for example if one is a switched live feed then the other will be a permanent earth.

Terminal 30 is standard for battery supply, and 87 will supply the component you want to switch on. When the relay is switched on power at 30 will be available at 87 via the contacts inside the relay.

The purpose is to keep the current across the switch to a minimum, which will be a matter of milliamps.

For example, suppose you fit high power spot lamps to your car. Each lamp draws 10A and there are two lamps. That means 20A will be drawn across the switch you use to switch them on. That amount of current will cause the switch to get hot leading to failure. But if you put a relay in the circuit the switch is used to switch on the relay rather than the lamps directly. Now there are only a few milliamps crossing the switch contacts, and the current drawn by the lamps is crossing the relay contacts instead.

Hope it helps.