850R suddenly will not turn over at all.

R converter · Post by **R converter** » 13 Jul 2011, 12:11

Hello again.

Last Friday I had got out with my 96' 850R wagon. The car has been running great, not missing one beat.

I went to start the car, and the starter gear was stuck to the flywheel. I had the car towed home, and had the starter tested. The starter is charging 14.7 volts. I lubed the starter gear, and re-installed the starter only to have the same thing occur.

Long story short, the car will not turn over, I get a faint clicking, but that is it. The fuel pump relay is working, the battery is an Exide, and was new as of July 2010, the starter passed all tests, I cleaned all of the connections to the starter and the battery.

When I turn the key to start the car, the radio, seat belt lights, and dash lights all go out while the key is in the start position.

I rely on this car for my business, and have alreay have five days extra backlog with my customers.

Any input will be much appreciated.

Post by **jblackburn** » 13 Jul 2011, 12:15

BATTERY CABLES! Or a bad ground connection.

Will it start if you jump from another car?

FCPEURO · Post by **FCPEURO** » 13 Jul 2011, 15:12

jblackburn wrote:BATTERY CABLES! Or a bad ground connection.

Will it start if you jump from another car?

This seems to be the issue of the month. This has to be the 4th or 5th thread I have read with this issue.

R converter · Post by **R converter** » 13 Jul 2011, 16:04

Thank you jblackburn for your reply.

I cleaned / inspected all of the positive / negative cables. I also cleaned all of the connections at the starter.

Despite all of my efforts, the problem still persists.

I saw this problem on a 760 turbo, and it turned out to be the power stage on that car. Do the 850's have a power stage, and if so, where is it located? Are there any ignition fuses / relays besides the ones under the hood?

Also, I listend closer while I was turning the ignition, and the only thing I hear is the fuel pump when I put the ignition in position two. I also hear a faint sound like the back windshield wiper is going, but it is not. When I go to start the car, there is no sound at all.

Just for kicks, I turned the motor over with a wrench, and it turns perfectly fine.

It doesn't make sense that the car went from running perfectly when I shut it off to stone dead at the next startup.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 13 Jul 2011, 16:21

Your problem is loosely similar to mine... Back in February, while I was at school, my car died and would not restart. Finally in May I gave up and had it towed to Volvo. 3hrs later they found a wire leading to the fuel injectors that was severed. Spliced the wire and everything is great.

Have you checked for fuel at the schrader valve AND at the injectors?

Post by **jblackburn** » 13 Jul 2011, 16:30

Our BMW did this a lot for a while. It would start (and run!) perfectly fine; then the next time "click".

It had a problem with the grounding on 35 yr old battery cables. Grab some jumper cables and try grounding the negative cable to something. If not, does bridging the terminals on the starter cause anything to happen?

There are some overload relays, but I don't think they're in the path to the starter.

If all else fails - I wore out the starter in another car to the point where it would click and do nothing else. On a bench, it worked perfectly fine, but it just couldn't turn the engine anymore. It had been making weird noises for months, though.

R converter · Post by **R converter** » 13 Jul 2011, 17:07

I would like to thank everyone for their input.

I did not check the wires to the fuel injection system, that is not the problem

Prior to this incident everything was perfect.

I have ruled out the following: Coil, starter, alternator, battery, engine.

I am beginning to point my suspicions towards the ingition switch.

Is there a way to test if the ignition switch is good?

Post by **confused_al** » 13 Jul 2011, 19:30

R converter wrote:...the car will not turn over, I get a faint clicking, but that is it. The fuel pump relay is working, the battery is an Exide, and was new as of July 2010, the starter passed all tests,

That sounds like your battery doesn't have enough juice. Have you tested your battery (w/ load and w/o load)? If your charging system is not fully functional, such as a bad battery "B" cable, then your battery will die over time regardless its age.

R converter wrote:...and had the starter tested. The starter is charging 14.7 volts.

Would you elaborate what that means? I'm at lost how a starter could charge.

R converter · Post by **R converter** » 14 Jul 2011, 17:03

Sorry for the confusion, I meant the starter is putting out 14.7 volts.

I will have the batt checked next.

I replaced the ignition module, and the same thing. This only leaves the battery and the CPU. Other than that the problem is most certainly gremlin related.

begovic · Post by **begovic** » 14 Jul 2011, 17:12

Could be your starter. If only make click sound when you turn the key then starer is bad.