Technical Starter motor grating noise

[Buttercup 500]

My 500 1.2 Lounge dualogic is 2 years old. For over a year I've had problems with the starter motor. From time to time, when I try and start it I get a loud grating noise, but the engine doesn't turn over. It can take 4,5, 6 or more atempts before it starts. Each time I take it to my local dealer I am told the battery doesn't have sufficient power in it because we don't use it enough. Our last car was a 12 year old Nissan Micra. Used it exactly the same, Never has a problem with it. They won't change the battery because we are in the 3rd year of warranty, even though the problem started in the first year. I've even tried connecting jump leads when it won't start - but no luck! We just have to wait until it feels like starting. Fiat don't seem to want to help. What can we do?? Anyone else having problems like this?:bang:

 

[jrkitching]

My 500 1.2 Lounge dualogic is 2 years old. For over a year I've had problems with the starter motor. From time to time, when I try and start it I get a loud grating noise, but the engine doesn't turn over. It can take 4,5, 6 or more atempts before it starts. Each time I take it to my local dealer I am told the battery doesn't have sufficient power in it because we don't use it enough. Our last car was a 12 year old Nissan Micra. Used it exactly the same, Never has a problem with it. They won't change the battery because we are in the 3rd year of warranty, even though the problem started in the first year. I've even tried connecting jump leads when it won't start - but no luck! We just have to wait until it feels like starting. Fiat don't seem to want to help. What can we do?? Anyone else having problems like this?:bang:

Why not just have a new heavy-duty battery fitted? If that doesn't fix the problem, beat your FIAT dealer over the head until they replace the starter motor under the 3rd year warranty.

 

[alexGS]

I think I would start by purchasing/borrowing a battery charger, removing the battery, and giving it a proper charge (with some chargers this will be 24 hours). Although, it is true that modern batteries will never be quite the same again once they've been run down, it's worth a try. Bear in mind that driving the car does not provide the sustained slow charge required to restore the battery charge properly.

The description of the noise as 'grating' brings back chilling memories for me: Punto Mk2 CVT 1.2 16v versions (so, different engine and different transmission to yours) often had a problem with the teeth wearing away on the drive plate ring gear. Mine had this problem. It would start about half the time, the other half of the time I'd get a loud RAAAAARK sound. The only solution was to replace the drive plate (effectively the engine's flywheel) which was a big and expensive transmission-off job, fortunately I did it myself. I also replaced the starter motor's pinion gear as that was a little damaged. Parts were at least £250, I forget exactly how much.

So, what I'm suggesting is that if yours has a similar problem, it would really be worth getting it rectified under warranty - even if you have to pay for a new battery to start the process (no pun intended).

Maybe it is just a faulty starter motor, but even so the price of a battery is probably less than the price of a new starter motor + fitting. Or, if the grating is more a loud clacking noise, perhaps it really is just the battery.

Don't want to scare you over this, but just thought I'd give an indication of how a seemingly minor problem can have a range of solutions from relatively cheap to very expensive... and whatever the problem, it's very unlikely to fix itself.

-Alex

 

[KaZetec]

Sounds like a classic case of flywheel teeth wearing down.

The good news is this can be quite a slow process. If you're thinking of selling the car I'd seriously look at doing it sooner than later. If you're having trouble starting, select reverse or if you can select 5th roll the car slightly with the engine off. It will move the flywheel to different teeth.

Don't mean to sound harsh but I had this on a Mondeo & cost just shy of £1000 to fix.