starter motor problem

[twiss]

Mine was having such a job drawing power to the solenoid that the ignition barrel internals have now melted! So now the ACC terminal is internally connected to the starter terminal!

Time for a starter button I think!

[turbo-tom]

Time for a starter button I think!

Remember to get a decent one ive got a graystone one now and thats really good!

[twiss]

Yeah don't really need that much of a decent one as its only powering up a relay now...

[Anton]

I've seen this exact problem with a Lada Niva. Basically Twiss's right (if your problem is the same thing) - with the Niva, basically the cable that carries power to the starter just got frayed internally over time and lost it's ability to carry a decent current - the starter couldn't pull enough amps from a perfectly decent battery, and acted like it wasn't getting power.

The solenoid, only needing a fraction of the power, engaged just fine.

We ran a new cable and it worked just fine.

So try running a separate cable directly from the battery to terminal A on Darrel's diagram, turn the key and see if the problem goes away. If it does, replace the cable that goes to A, or run a new one through a relay as everyone's suggesting. Don't forget to add an inline fuse to the new cable though, it's a real fire hazard to have something unfused connected directly to your battery!

If it doesn't, that means something in your starter (between A and C) is b0rked. Open up your starter and look for damage.

[ScottDabinett]

I went off roading sunday stopped and turned it back on and it was fine and has been fine today!! Weird!!

Thanks for all your help though!

[twiss]

Bit of a shake around probably moved some mud around in there