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+--- Thread: It's raining - no start! 21 Oct - aarrggh (/showthread.php?tid=5265)
It's raining - no start! 21 Oct - aarrggh - matclarke - 21 Oct 2015
Hello again,
Having driven Frenchy yesterday I thought she'd fine today...
Woke up today, rain, 99% humidity... No start!
She's always been temperamental in the rain - just thought it was water near the fuel pump connections, but today she's just been sitting on the driveway. ( didn't plan for her to be in the rain!!)
Also, as I turned the key and pulled it out of the barrel the starter motor continued! Eek!
Thank goodness for the isolator!
Anyone else have it this bad in a lot of moisture?
Cheers,
Mat
Re: It's raining - no start! 21 Oct - aarrggh - TheOriginalMrP - 21 Oct 2015
Sounds like your cranking may well have welded the contacts on your solenoid together temporarily. This happened to me some years ago and I wasn't so lucky, as the car started and I drove for several miles before I turned it off and realised the motor was still spinning, but obviously disengaged from the flywheel.
The starter motor had to be changed as it was unreliable in as much as it wouldn't crank the engine fast enough and it sounded odd when cranking.
You might have escaped killing the starter but chances are it will happen again, and next time it might be a similar incident to mine.
Hope you get it sorted.
Re: It's raining - no start! 21 Oct - aarrggh - Chris P - 22 Oct 2015
Hi Mat,
being left in the rain…i'd suspect damp in the engine bay ….on plug leads distributor the plugs and sockets in the corner..that sort of thing. A can or damp repellant type stuff liberally sprayed around? Its a very low miles engine as are all the ancillaries, apart from the starter motor.
I drove to Sheffield ( in the rain) without a problem, but there is a difference between a warm engine getting rained on and a car being left out over night in the rain.
Re: It's raining - no start! 21 Oct - aarrggh - matclarke - 22 Oct 2015
Thank for the replies,
I'm definitely gonna keep an eye on the starter, as that was quite a weird experience, but I think the non starting episode has been driven predominantly by damp.
Inside the car this morning was damp and in places, wet along the centre console. Similar no doubt for the engine bay.
(Drying out of interior now been dealt with!)
There is a bulletin that was released a long time ago showing all the places and holes that could be sealed/weather proofed or resealed. Some places are tricky to get to, but this is definelty one project needed for Frenchy!
So, I sprayed, no luck starting, then waited for the humidity to drop, and at about 80%, at mid afternoon she fired into life as if nothing had happened before!
Lesson learned with weather forecasting!
Best regards,
Mat
Re: It's raining - no start! 21 Oct - aarrggh - Rich H - 22 Oct 2015
Damp wont stop a DeLorean from starting. A fault will.
Did it turn over but not fire? Damp is the enemy of particularly engine bay electrics. Check your connections to coil and ballast resistors are clean and tight. Also check the bulkhead connectors in the coil area are clean and tight - the brass tubes in the connector bodies have a tendency to open up and not make proper contact. Check too the condition of the HT Leads, they should be soft and rubbery, not stiff like a mains lead.
Don't ignore this fault. It will happen again and it will leave you stranded by the roadside.
If your starter continued turning even after you removed a key, that's something that needs investigating too. It could be a sticking starter solenoid (this can be repaired) it could be a bad relay, a short circuit or a faulty ignition barrel. Starting at the ignition barrel, you need to go through the system piece by piece and satisfy yourself each component is in good working order.