don't like strange things...parked car in garage for 3 weeks, came back and flat battery so got out the charger and everything was fine.... Went for a beautiful 150km drive up the hills on weekend but when I tried to start the car to come home, just a small whining noise and nothing else..!

Fortunately, enough people to push start and got home OK. Now the car seems to start OK and everything else seems normal...however, I know this could happen again on a dark lonely night somewhere..! Any ideas? Could be battery or maybe starter motor not turning over.

Thanks!

 

I would check battery terminals and ground connections to be sure they are clean and tight. If you just charged it without checking and cleaning the terminals amd making sure the ground connections were good also, you could get it to work fresh and hot off the charger, but it may have enough corrosion the alt. can't give a good charge. How old is the battery?

 

battery is about 18months old and alternator has just been rebuilt...checked connectors, all OK. I am going to put a trickle charger on. Just went to start the car again and everything is fine!

 

some thoughts:

did you check the ground strap connections between body & transmission, located right near the starter motor?

is there a single audible click coming from the starter area when you turn the key to the start position? If yes, then it could be a bad starter solenoid, mounted atop the starter. If no, then I'd check the ignition switch or a connection to it.

 

also... did you check your battery fluid level? The regulator failed in my alternator, and boiled off
much of the battery electrolite. then the battery was weak and wouldn't start. I replaced the regulator, topped off the battery, and it's been fine for a year now. I've heard that new regulators are occasionally faulty. Since you say it starts now, and it ran all the way home, it was probably running on high voltage and boiling your battery ;-) Or it could also be that the regulator isn't providing enough voltage to the battery, and it slowly drained it to compensate and keep the car running for the trip home. I'd check the juices first! And if your headlights dramatically change brightness with a change in rpm, you've probably got a regulator/alternator problem.
Ell

 

thanks for all the ideas...everything seems to work fine now!....when it wouldn't start, it was more like a whining noise rather than a clicking of the starter solenoid. About 6mths ago, I had the alternator die in the middle of a rainy night on way home. That's when I had it rebuilt. That's probably why I am a bit paranoid. Hope I do not have an intermittent problem. Anyway, I will probably change the battery to be safe.

When I came back from hols, the battery was really flat, so it is quite possible the battery is no longer able to hold charge. However, it seems to be holding now. I saw a thread about this somewhere. Well, I see this as one of the joys of P ownership - never a dull moment.