is it the starter motor

[Deleted]

hi guys, I havent been on here for a while as all was well for months until this morning. I went down to the old girl and turned the key and, you guessed it. Just a clicking sound from under the bonnet and no turn over, it is a silly question but is it the starter motor thats gone or is it something cheaper (i hope) The lady in question is a 1973 P5b. Please help, also can I get a new motor from a standard parts shop even if they have to order one, thanks chaps

[harvey]

I'd start (sorry, no pun intended!) by checking the battery, if the car hasn't been used for a while it may have discharged over time, if it's been used recently it's possible you've left something on causing it to discharge that way. Test or charge the battery, always start with the easiest things first.

[andymaslen]

Have you tried starting her in neutral? I have a very finely adjusted inhibitor switch and get the same effect sometimes.

Or try pushing the gear selector lever firmly into Park.

Fingers crossed!

Andy

[Deleted]

I used her two days ago and all was well, starting and stoping like a dream, the only thing differnt and I have no idea why, is that i noticed the the temp gauge was working backwards, ie when I turned her off, the needle went from the middle N up the red and when I turned the engine on again the needle went back down to N? Weird or what.

[Deleted]

cheers andy, i will give that a go

[Phil Nottingham]

Hope ypu have connected the battery the correct way round although this would not prevent the starter motoe operating so it could point to a bad chassis/battery earth or corroded battery terminals /boot floor

[Deleted]

cheers Phil, better nothing has been touched anything, went to bed and everything was fine, wake up and the starter motor has gone and the temp needle is working backwards.

[Deleted]

if you look at my last reply you will see what happens when you type and watch the football at the same time

[Deleted]

just want to say a big thank you to phil, andy and harvey for their kind help. The starter motor was fine in the end. The battery had died because of a temp gauge that for some reason wont turn off. when I turn the engine off the temp goes into the red and stays there draining the battery slowly. I wounder has anyone else ever had this before. I will take the gauge out today and check what I can, thank lads.
Joe

[johnwp5bcoupe]

Looking at the wiring diagram Joe you should loose the 12v to the 10v regulator when the ignition is off the 10v regulator feeds the Temp Guage one side and the other side goes to the Temp Sensor which in turn goes to earth so what you say is a bit confusing if the ignition is off no voltage should be present at the 15 amp fuse which feeds the circuit if the Guage reads backwards it could only do this if it is connected the wrong way round or reverse polarity but is it working backwards? I dont think so! so check you have a good connection to the sensor and 10 volts at the feed

[Deleted]

cheers john, as you might of worked out im quit new to this but it really is going backwards.
I have had the car over a year new and since ive had it when the engine is turned off the needle on the guage sits happy up on the left side, ie L and when the engine is turned on slowly (about 12 minutes) moves over to the N (center).

in the last week its been working backwards ie.
when the engine is off the needle sits up in the right ie Hot and when the enging is on slowly makes its way down to the center N, it hasnt been touched so what has gone wrong with it?
Any help would be great.

[johnwp5bcoupe]

Joe to start with you need to check at the feed side of the Guage to see what volts you have? you could have a few different causes bad connection, high resistance causing a diode effect

[Deleted]

I just check john and with the ignition turned off im getting a 13v reading and when the engine is running it is all over the place, 3v to 9v and everywhere between?

[johnwp5bcoupe]

It should be a constant 10v when the ignition is on after the regulator but if you are getting 12v all the time before the regulator with the ignition off possibly you have two faults take the 15 amp fuse out the one 3 and 4 on the circuit diagram white wires one side and green the other and see if you have volts at the white wires end with the ignition off? it looks anyway as if your 10v reg has gone? worth checking all the three contacts are good first.

As I said drop me an email with a phone number my email is not blocked
roverp5.proboards31.com/index.cgi?action=viewprofile&user=johnwp5bcoupe

[Deleted]

cheers john, email on its way now, thank you