Sean Envanned
DIY
Hello and Happy New Year.
It's not starting too well for me, excuse pun. Since Friday December 16th, The 2.4l Duratorq diesel won't start, except for twice on Friday December 30th when I got lucky with 'hotwiring' a 3m 4GA gauge battery cable from starter solenoid +ve and solenoid switch terminal under vehicle and in through drivers' doorway to battery +ve under the seat. This hotwire cable looks exactly the same gauge as the standard Transit +ve battery cable.
Then after carefully removing and rerouting that heavy-duty 3m cable through the firewall at the same rubber grommet where the standard Transit battery +ve cable runs, (central under the heater), all I've been able to achieve was that same 'click', 'click-click' that I've been getting since December 16th. It is quite soul destroying, especially as this particular Transit van has been my home since July 2018.
I ought to mention that this Transit 2.4L Duratorq has a 5-speed manual, with automatic clutch and automatic shifter with electric dashboard abd steering wheel buttons. Very hard to tow-start in 1st gear.
What else have I done to fix this problem?
1. Replaced the starter motor with a new Ford part. Testing the starter motor outside on the road with no connection to the flywheel works as good as new.
2. Replaced the negative lead from battery -ve to steel battery box (under drivers' seat).
3. The DIN88-MF lead acid battery has been combined with a new DIN75-MF because that was the largest in stock that was reasonably priced at SuperCheap Autos last Wednesday December 28th. It was the new battery alone which managed to get the diesel started twice on Decemeber 30th, so I believe that the DIN75-MF has enough capacity to crank the diesel, but I have also tried with both batteries in parallel to be sure.
4. The batteries are continually being recharged with a C-Tek 3.6A charger, and voltages rise to 14.2V on charge, then revert to 13.1V when the charger decides it has done enough. These voltages would appear to be quite normal and healthy for both the old and the new batteries.
5. All the wiring down under the van around the starter and gearbox had been visually inspected. The -ve black cable from the starter motor bolt to the body, (engine ground) has been removed, inspected, tested for conductivity. So has the original red +ve running from the front terminal by the fusebox to the starter solenoid +ve input terminal. These both appear in good condition.
Now that +ve cable from terminal by the fusebox under bonnet has been disconnected from the starter solenoid, because instead I have run that 'hotwired' 3m cable directly from the solenoid +ve input terminal through the firewall to the floor beside the battery box, so that connection can be achieved by firmly touching the end of that cable to the battery +ve terminal.
The solenoid switch terminal also has a separate smaller gauge 3m 18AWG wire now to connect the solenoid switch to the battery +ve and push the gear onto the flywheel, either in conjunction with or independently of the 3m heavy-duty battery cable.
6. I have contacted several auto mechanical and auto electrical workshops, and at best been told that they have no magic diagnostics boxes for starter circuits. Their only known methods would be process of elimination using a multimeter and test lamp, which is much the same as what I have been doing. I just do not know the more complex parts of the 2001 VH Transit electrical system.
At this point it seems that there might be some kind of drain on the batteries from some circuits other than the starter circuit, as I have practically rebuilt the starter +ve circuit. Possibly the charging circuit, or some other circuit that is related to the diesel engine operation.
Foul play by a fellow allegedly looking for his dog's lost ball under my van late one afternoon on the Wednesday 14th, coincidentally immediately before this problem was first discovered at the next attempt to start the engine, may possibly be suspected. There may be wiring unrelated to the actual starter motor circuit which has been tampered with, but I am unable to find any such thing on visual inspection under the van with a torch.
Does anyone have any likely successful steps I could take from here? I am at the point where I have tried every possible thing I have been able to think of over these last nineteen days. If it is some other circuit besides the starter circuit, I do not have enough electronic engineering knowledge to work it out without some assistance.
It's not starting too well for me, excuse pun. Since Friday December 16th, The 2.4l Duratorq diesel won't start, except for twice on Friday December 30th when I got lucky with 'hotwiring' a 3m 4GA gauge battery cable from starter solenoid +ve and solenoid switch terminal under vehicle and in through drivers' doorway to battery +ve under the seat. This hotwire cable looks exactly the same gauge as the standard Transit +ve battery cable.
Then after carefully removing and rerouting that heavy-duty 3m cable through the firewall at the same rubber grommet where the standard Transit battery +ve cable runs, (central under the heater), all I've been able to achieve was that same 'click', 'click-click' that I've been getting since December 16th. It is quite soul destroying, especially as this particular Transit van has been my home since July 2018.
I ought to mention that this Transit 2.4L Duratorq has a 5-speed manual, with automatic clutch and automatic shifter with electric dashboard abd steering wheel buttons. Very hard to tow-start in 1st gear.
What else have I done to fix this problem?
1. Replaced the starter motor with a new Ford part. Testing the starter motor outside on the road with no connection to the flywheel works as good as new.
2. Replaced the negative lead from battery -ve to steel battery box (under drivers' seat).
3. The DIN88-MF lead acid battery has been combined with a new DIN75-MF because that was the largest in stock that was reasonably priced at SuperCheap Autos last Wednesday December 28th. It was the new battery alone which managed to get the diesel started twice on Decemeber 30th, so I believe that the DIN75-MF has enough capacity to crank the diesel, but I have also tried with both batteries in parallel to be sure.
4. The batteries are continually being recharged with a C-Tek 3.6A charger, and voltages rise to 14.2V on charge, then revert to 13.1V when the charger decides it has done enough. These voltages would appear to be quite normal and healthy for both the old and the new batteries.
5. All the wiring down under the van around the starter and gearbox had been visually inspected. The -ve black cable from the starter motor bolt to the body, (engine ground) has been removed, inspected, tested for conductivity. So has the original red +ve running from the front terminal by the fusebox to the starter solenoid +ve input terminal. These both appear in good condition.
Now that +ve cable from terminal by the fusebox under bonnet has been disconnected from the starter solenoid, because instead I have run that 'hotwired' 3m cable directly from the solenoid +ve input terminal through the firewall to the floor beside the battery box, so that connection can be achieved by firmly touching the end of that cable to the battery +ve terminal.
The solenoid switch terminal also has a separate smaller gauge 3m 18AWG wire now to connect the solenoid switch to the battery +ve and push the gear onto the flywheel, either in conjunction with or independently of the 3m heavy-duty battery cable.
6. I have contacted several auto mechanical and auto electrical workshops, and at best been told that they have no magic diagnostics boxes for starter circuits. Their only known methods would be process of elimination using a multimeter and test lamp, which is much the same as what I have been doing. I just do not know the more complex parts of the 2001 VH Transit electrical system.
At this point it seems that there might be some kind of drain on the batteries from some circuits other than the starter circuit, as I have practically rebuilt the starter +ve circuit. Possibly the charging circuit, or some other circuit that is related to the diesel engine operation.
Foul play by a fellow allegedly looking for his dog's lost ball under my van late one afternoon on the Wednesday 14th, coincidentally immediately before this problem was first discovered at the next attempt to start the engine, may possibly be suspected. There may be wiring unrelated to the actual starter motor circuit which has been tampered with, but I am unable to find any such thing on visual inspection under the van with a torch.
Does anyone have any likely successful steps I could take from here? I am at the point where I have tried every possible thing I have been able to think of over these last nineteen days. If it is some other circuit besides the starter circuit, I do not have enough electronic engineering knowledge to work it out without some assistance.
