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Ford Fiesta Mk3 (1994) - Mk3 Fiesta Starter problems - fiesta_tim

Hi All,

Wondering if I could get some advice please?

My mk3 fiesta has been working fine, then one day wouldn't start. When I turn the ignition there's a 'clunk' from the starter but the engine doesn't turn over at all. Works fine on a bump start, which I've been doing for a few days. Head lights don't dim when I try to start it and the batter is fine, so I figured it was the starter that was broken.

Ordered a replacement off ebay, when I fitted that it first of all did absolutely nothing (not even the 'clunk' from before), so took it out and connected it up. With only the smaller solenoid live cable connected, when you turn the ignition the started spins fine (is this normal? the main thick power cable is disconnected). Fitted it back in and it now is back to the same 'clunk' as before...

Tested all the cables with a meter, there is power to the main thick cable and the earth is fine. Is it a problem with the starter motor not getting enough power to crank the engine or is there something else I should be looking at?

Any help much appreciated - not sure it's worth taking it to a garage, car's not worth a huge amount but is pretty useful to me as transport!

Ford Fiesta Mk3 (1994) - Mk3 Fiesta Starter problems - Railroad.

Since you have a multimeter try a volt-drop test to determine whether or not you have a bad connection somewhere. Checking continuity is fine but it does not check circuits under load, and since a starter motor will draw well over 100 amps a load test is what you need to do. Using a voltmeter is the best way to do this.

Remember a voltmeter measures difference between two points of a circuit. It does not measure current, or give an indication of whether or not current is flowing.

Connect you red probe to battery positive, and the black probe to the starter terminal. Since they are both positive (you are measuring two ends of the same cable) the difference should be close to zero. It will never actually be zero because there will always be some loss, even if only a few millivolts. Turn the key to the start position and observe your meter reading. Whatever the meter reads is the voltage difference between the red and black probes. It must not show greater than 0.5 volts when under load. If it does then you have a poor connection on this cable or terminals. Do the same test between the engine block and battery negative to check the engine earth. Again you should see not more than 0.5V difference when you turn the key. If you do clean the connections and repeat the test.

Connect your probes to both large terminals on the solenoid. Initially your meter should show 12V, but when you turn the key it should change to close to zero. Any reading will indicate a poor connection across the solenoid terminals, which again should not exceed 0.5V.

The clunk in your case could also be the starter pinion getting stuck in the flywheel ringear.....

Ford Fiesta Mk3 (1994) - Mk3 Fiesta Starter problems - Peter D

With the solenoid bable connected and an eath then in the start mode the shaft of the starter will turn as the currect if fed through both the solenoid and the starter windings to allow the cog to engage the starter ring. The soleniod makes the main contact for the main power to be fed to the starter. Do the tests above and it should reveal the problem. Regards Peter