Hi there, its been a while since i have been ont here as i have been moving house.

i have had the car running in the past, but it has been standing for a few months (say 6) since i last fired it up. so i have assumend that the petrol in the fuel lines and the carbs has evaoprated.

well i put more petrol in the tank and charged the battery up and turned the key lot of churning and a dead battery



i pulled my golf TDI up to the garage and put the jump leads on. started turning the car over. SMOKE started comming off the starter motor and the battery leads

i assume that the power comming off the TDi battery is to much for the cabling that i have on the car.

well i charged the battery up over night and yesterday i used my Hyundai trajet (petrol) to try and jump start the engine. another dead battery but this time noticed the smoke comming from the clutch cable release in the bell housing, but not the cables this time. i assume that the hyundai put out less amps than the golf and that is why there was less smoke.

i will check the ignition system this evening to ensure a spark at the plugs then it will be down to fuel as the reason that it is not firing up.

got the four boy to try and push start the car, well as soon as the clutch was dropped it was like doing an emergency stop, and the boys came over the top

regards

ditch

You've got a dodgy earth lead - either battery to chassis or chassis to engine bock. Probably the latter. That's why your clutch cable is smoking - it's acting as the earth between engine and chassis.

And it shouldn't come to a dead stop when you go to bump it. Squirt of diesel down each plug socket, leave it for a day or so then turn it over with the plugs out. ( Having fixed the earthing problem described above).
Once these two things are done, you should be ok...


Forgot to add - the car you use to jump it has little to do with it. The starter will draw what it needs from the avalable resources.

[Edited on 28/3/06 by zilspeed]

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...noticed the smoke comming from the clutch cable release in the bell housing....

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Bump it in 3rd gear or it will lock up as the car is so light. Put an earth strap from one of your starter bolts to the chassis/battery earth or you'll melt the clutch and accelerator cables. Hook the earth jump lead to the engine, not the battery terminal as well.

Important to fix properly it before you try and start it again.

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Originally posted by Fatgadget

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...noticed the smoke comming from the clutch cable release in the bell housing....

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This suggests your earth connection is dodgy m8.

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many thanks for the advice lads

this would explain why the starter motor turns so slowly.

have i got this correct? a multi meter set for resistance testing will read 0 for a good connection and 1 for a bad connection?

will check and replace connections and earthstraps.

thanks for the advice on bump starts i did try 1st, but it was fun to see the boys come over the top

ditch

ps would placing the earth strap on the starter bolt be extra to the one on the engine or a replacement?

[Edited on 28/3/06 by ditchlewis]

The one on the engine should be enough - I'd check that it's got a really clean connection. Check for rust, grease, oil, paint - anything like that.

A multimeter isn't likely to read low enough to check an earth strap; with the current that a starter takes, a fraction of an ohm is enough to mess it up. Mind you, if it reads zero then you know it isn't totally wrong.

cheers,

David

Since you're having problems, I'd replace the engine earth strap AND use the starter to chassis one, just to be sure. Only costs a couple of quid and should save any future hassle. Also, once fittted, cover the bolts/cable ends in vaseline. Should guard against rust in the future.