urgent help pls prob with townie can anyone help

[rose4765]

hi all desperate for some help with my townie, was out last night in it and it was fine turned engine off got back in about 20 mins later and it wouldnt start think it's starter again but when that went before the solenoid still clicked but the starter wouldnt turn over all i'm getting now is a clicking noise from somewhere behind the passenger seat. have tried hitting starter with a block of wood and a hammer but still nothing, i only had it reconditioned six months ago. can anyone suggest anything ? i can't work or get my partner to hospital now as its our only vehicle at mo 

[cods68]

Is the engine tirning at all ?   There are a few things I would check ... Is the battery fully charged of so I would check the leads on the starter motor .. I also used to try rocking my car back and forth whilst in gear ... Sometimes that freed it up .... If that don't help I'm sure someone will be on later with more know how 

[rose4765]

thanks for reply no engine not turning over put battery on charge as a precaution still nothing so took the damn thing off and wired it up to battery and nothing so guessing starter has finally given up ghost now. thats me on shank's pony for the forseeable and i can't work either as i'm self employed parcel courier 

[ADarbon]

Who refurbished it if it was a garage then it should still be under warranty and will be there job to get you back on the road again

[rose4765]

hi guys right i must have done something wrong when i tested the starter cos i nipped it up to a mate who runs his own garage and he tested it and it worked fine. a while ago i had a bad oil leak when the o ring went on the oil filter by the time i noticed it the whole underneath of the car was soaked. i cleaned off as much as i could but my mate says it might have got onto the earth lead where it jions the car does anyone know if its hard to get at ? cant find any pics or diagrams on ace answers. not nice weather to be laying in the open under a car lol.

[Gary (not GT Gary)]

I can't see the earth lead getting contaminated with oil being the problem. An easy answer is to get some metal brading, and connect it between a good metal part of the engine, under a nut and washer, and a similar part of the body shell. This will act in the same way. If you've a set of jump leads, use one of them for a quick test, one end clip on the starter motor body, the other on a bare metal bodyshell area, or the negative terminal of the battery. (make sure its the negative, or you might get a bit of a hair raising experience.  



It's more likely that the internal copper contacts have worn in the starter motor. Should be less than a tenner to replace them, usually an ebay search will work for you to buy. Here's the link for an estima starter motor job, this should be very similar.

https://estima-motoring.co.uk/Forum/index.php?topic=151.0

[rose4765]

thanks gary tried the jump lead thing but no joy starter turns over when you connect it like my mate tried yesterday so dont think it's that and power is getting from battery to the relay i can hear the relay clicking but it doesnt seem to be getting from there to the starter have checked and cleaned all the wires and still no joy. think it will be a tow to garage job and to make things worse i've lost my job again today never rains but when it pours as they say ho hum  :

[Centaur]

Toyota starters are pretty tough and rarely fail - like Gary says, sounds like the contacts have worn and failed... an issue I've had with my Townie, my Celica and my Esti ...so a common problem and a pretty easy and cheap/DIY fix. 


Other possibles are loose battery connectors/earth, dodgy immobilisor or a sticky autobox selector, thinking it's still in drive. The selector one could be temporarily sorted by running the gearstick up and down the box whilst the engine is off.

I'm still with Gary and the worn contacts theory though.

[rose4765]

okies thanks i'll go down that route thanks all have a nice bank holiday 

[Kernowman]

Here's link to page of contact sets on ebay... hope it helps.

starter contacts sets on ebay

Hopefully Centaur can advise if they are suitable.

[rose4765]

hi guys townie back on the road it was the stop switch in the gear box that was faulty took it to my local garage and they sorted it in a couple of hours thank god fed up with walking my bad leg did not appreciate it at all lol thanks for all your help tho' 

[cods68]

Well good to hear your back on the road ... Hope it was a cheap fix 

[ADarbon]

thats great news rose glad your rolling again