-79, 1.4 liter started, then died. Now won't crank.

[fatuglypaapa1]

Hi, I bought this car yesterday for a whopping 2000 dollars. It is in a super good condition and has had a lot of work on it. But, I guess as with all cars they have their electrical problems.

It is currently snowing and I got the car running, but due to getting a bit stuck I decided to just leave it for the day. On the way back to where I parked it it just died incredibly carefully.

Now it gets power to the wipers, lights and everything. But, when I turn the key nothing happens other than the lights and etc turns on.

What could be the problem? Bad earth connections or a bad starter?

[fatuglypaapa1]

Update: I def think this is not due to a bad starter or alternator.

It's the ground cables that need to be cleaned.

Anyone who knows where these are on this model?

[fatuglypaapa1]

Yhea no not the ground cables. Cleaned them and everything, and everything seems to be getting power from the battery, and no fuses in the fusebox have gone nor the relays there.

I beg anyone for any help in this. Everything seems to be working, there is a clicking sound when turning the key but the starter does not actuate. I refuse to believe it is a faulty starter as why would the car die on itself due to a bad starter?

[bogbasic]

Probably it will be the connections on the back of the fuse box. Try wiggling the connectors from the driver's footwell as a temporary fix. In the long term the connections will probably need cleaning.

[fatuglypaapa1]

Probably it will be the connections on the back of the fuse box. Try wiggling the connectors from the driver's footwell as a temporary fix. In the long term the connections will probably need cleaning.

Tried that, and the guy I could see that the guy who owned it before me has recently fixed things up in there.

I plugged in a battery charger to conclude that the battery was not the problem. It started spewing out gas so we unplugged it and put a new one in, now nothing in the car works. Will hand it in to a mechanic who knows a bit more about electricity than me, hopefully won't cost much since the engine bay is incredibly accessible.

But the current problems at the moment are:

- starter not going
- electrics no longer functioning

Did not see any fuses that had gone so I imagine some cables have burned up or need changing, and maybe one of these is the same earth cable that is responsible for the starter not going. Maybe something with the ignition. Either way, it'll be easier and more time saving if I hand it in than me risking destroying anything more mayor.

[fatuglypaapa1]

Probably it will be the connections on the back of the fuse box. Try wiggling the connectors from the driver's footwell as a temporary fix. In the long term the connections will probably need cleaning.

Wiggling these do not do anything by the way.

[fatuglypaapa1]

Im just using this as a logbook at the moment, but taking the connections out and cleaning them did not fix the problem either. No connections looked black or burnt or out of place, they all looked perfectly fine. And holy shit was it difficult to get these fuckers off the fuse box, took me like 15 minutes of constant struggling to get one out without destroying anything, and equally as difficult to get them back on.

Electrics now work tho, but not all of them. So the fan and etc no longer turn on, but lights do. I've got no clue what it can be so will call a mechanic tomorrow.

[bogbasic]

Yes, it's a big strain. Do take care.

[fatuglypaapa1]

Yes, it's a big strain. Do take care.

Appreciate your help by the way, but I have now spoken to a mechanic who specializes in "classics". Asked about where it has been stored, and etc. Concluded with that the problem must not be mechanical but electrical. He also agreed the starter should not be broken since that would not cause the car to die. And the symptoms I described to him just led him to believe some contacts somewhere that have begun oxidizing, due to the car having been stored in container over the past winter.

Will cost me anything from nothing to 300 euros to fix it, depending on how fast they find it. Will post an update on what the problem was later so people with similar problems might be able to fix what I could not

[fatuglypaapa1]

Here is what was probably the cause of this problem.

The old owner tried to fix electrical problems by "cleaning" everything by putting copper paste on every connection in the car.

The mechanic changed the starter and this did not fix the issue, I am just glad he used my back up starter I left in the car from another 340 incase they wanted to change it.

Then after a new starter and a cleaning of all the cables, including removing the fuze box and cleaning everything up. They bypassed the ignition switch with a home made button. Now it runs, but it has gotten fuel leak in the carb due to all diaphgrams having grown old and weary due to the car standing still for most of the time.

Either way, it is an easy fix and just got to wait for a new diaphgram and I might buy a service kit for the carb and try to service it at the same time.

The main problem with the electricity seemed to be related to the ignition switch, and I am guessing it was cheaper for them to just install a button rathern than finding a new one. And to my surprise, starting the car with the switch feels way better than the normal ignition. I guess it is also an added level of security since I can just hide the button when I am not using the car.

[bogbasic]

Cool.