Car trouble...

[buffalobillygoat]

Hi everybody, wondering if somebody can help me here. I bought a 1994 3.0 l turbo diesel surf hilux a week ago for a steal. I didn't expect it to be a flawless car, but I did think given its performance since I bought it (the engine purrrrs and it has very low mileage) that it would last long enough for me to look over it, put it in for a major service and find any latent problems. It didn't start this morning, just clicked relentlessly, without cranking or turning over. I tried intermittently for about 10 minutes, checked the terminal connections, and of course, made sure I had disengaged the immobiliser. Then gave up because I had to get to work, so got in my old car (so glad I didn't sell it immediately) I got home 10 hours later and the thing started like it was brand new...?

I'm posting here just in case anybody has specific knowledge of this engine (1KZ-TE) because they have some very characteristic problems/defects.
It is almost certainly the starter motor (solenoid) or the battery. The only thing is, this thing has dual batteries, one of which is brand new and the charge meter has a good reading. The brand new battery, though looks to be (i'm not sure) dedicated to radio/lights etc. Does the charge meter read both batteries, or just the 'engine' one?
I have read that immobiliers can cause a bit of mischief on starting too.
I'm thinking it might be a cold issue, particularly since it started so easily this afternoon - if the old battery is dedicated to the engine, and is half dead, and the new battery accounts for the good charge reading, then a 0-5 degree night might be enough to cause the battery to be ineffective.
As you can probably tell, I'm not great with cars. I'd really appreciate some advice from someone who is!
Thanks, buffalo

 

[JunkieDays]

If you got a good charge reading on the battery & the terminals are in good condition I doubt it's a problem related to the battery.
Could be the fuses and/or spark plugs, how do they look? If they're worn down, you might want to replace them.

 

[buffalobillygoat]

The fuses are fine - like I said it started fine this afternoon. I haven't checked the glow plugs yet.
Yeah the terminals are fine, I was just thinking that maybe if both batterys are showing in the reading but only one is used for starting the engine, it could give the impression that there is plenty of charge, but in fact there isn't enough for start up.
I'll check the plugs tomorrow if I have the same problem. The indicator on the dash is working as normal though, you turn the key to on - the glow plug light comes on and then off again as normal.

 

[Jackal]

I'd say it's likely a bad earth or a bad starter soleniod (though usually when they give up you don't even get the click).

Also, you need to test the batteries under load and see what the output drops to when trying to crank the car.

It sounds like a silly little problem, should be an easy fix for your shop, or yourself if you have the time.

 

[buffalobillygoat]

Thanks jude. I hadn't thought about the earth - do you mean the actual connection to the block? Or could that be through any part of the wiring to there? My plan today was: get back home and switch the batteries, then if it started fine it would have been because the one battery is dead. And if not I would have gone to get a meter for the batteries and the starter too. But since it started immediately without switching the batteries I got confused, and then the engine was warm so I felt that switching them wouldn't have been as reliable as if I had done it cold. I need to get a mate over to have a look at the meter while I'm starting it up.