The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => BMW Technical Q&A, Primarily R65 => Topic started by: BooG on May 18, 2008, 02:30:47 PM
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My engine stalled the other day. When I tried to re-start, it made that clicking noise and would't turn the engine over. The battery has lots of juice..dosen't seem to be a charging problem. Is it the starter motor?
Thanks in advance.
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Measure the amount of voltage at the battery at rest then while attempting to start. Then measure the same at the starter. If there is a much greater loss at the starter you have some connections to check. If it is similar you may have problems with the solenoid or starter itself. you can also remove the thin black wire from the starter and run a jumper from the battery (+) to the spade connector the black wire came off. If the starter spins look elsewhere. All is assuming that the battery passes a load test. Starter motors like lots of amps and a voltage test alone won't tell you the true condition of the battery.
rich
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Clicking noises can come from two places - a soft click from the starter relay and a louder click from the solenoid mounted on the starter itself. Which did you hear?
Try measuring the voltage at the starter while you put a jumper from the + battery terminal to the smaller (red?) wire on the starter solenoid. If the solenoid clicks but the voltage does not drop a lot then the contacts in the solenoid are bad. If you get a large voltage drop then the starter motor is trying to turn over but is mechanically jammed. If the starter does turn over than the problem is with the wiring from the starting relay or the relay itself. sometimes the start pushbutton contacts go bad but then you would not have heard a click at all.
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I've got a few troubleshooting methods,for the starter and relay.
A little unorthodox, but they they are quick.
Make sure the transmission is in neutral.
First remove the fuel tank, depress the starter button with the key on, locate the relay that clicks when you do activate the start button.
If you press down on the top of case of the relay, you can close the contacts of the relay manually.
If the starter is good, it should start to rotate like you're trying to start it.
Second, remove the relay, and use a heavy gauge wire to jumper the metal contacts that the relay connects to in the socket/holder, these should correspond to the large diameter red and large diameter black wires.
When you do this, the starter should rotate, you don't even need the key in the ignition.
I had a starter relay that would click when the start button was depressed, but the contacts in the relay were not making contact, I removed the cover off of the relay, and adjusted the spring return mechanism of the arm that had the electrical contact, and it started working again.
To check the starter button, with the start relay removed, put the red lead from a multimeter to the electrical contact in the relay holder that has the brown and yellow wire crimped to it, the other black lead from the multimeter to a ground, or earth.
When you push the start button, you should see 12 volts, or whatever the battery voltage is on the multimeter display.
Hope this helped, more than it confused !!