I have a 1997 MGF VVC. Want to know if PSCAN can help .
Sometimes the starter motor would not work. No solenoid click. Other times it would work OK. Once when it wouldnt work we push started the car.
We tested the starter motor on the bench and it was dead. A replacement from a spares car was tested on the bench and the soloniod worked and the starter motor spun. We installed it on the MGF . It worked the first day. On the second day it would not work !
We noticed the alternator was not providing 14v to the battery to charge it so we thought the alternator was causing the problem somehow.
We installed another alternator from a 'spares' car. we had it tested at the local garage on the bench and it produced 14v, the old one only prduced 12v. Once installed , the car started but we were not getting 14v !!!
The next day we tried to start the car and the starter motor wouldnt work. Battery had been charged overnight and was 12.8V
When the car does start the battery warning light goes out for a few seconds then comes back on again.
We have tried a different battery .
When we plug in PSCAN we get a K line fault on the petrol engine option for Mems2j. We do get live data for doors/boot open/closed high /low so does that mean PSCAN is working ok?
Note the engine option on PSCAN used to work when we tried it a year ago.
Could the ECU be causing these weird issues or is it a simple wiring issue to the starter motor or alternator or do we have intermittant faults with the replacement parts? I dont know if the garage tested the alternator under load when it measured 14v.
Any help appreciated , we have spent days and days trying to work out the problem. We've swapped the alternator and starter motor but we seem to be back at square one.
Everything what is described to me looks like earth connection problems all around. First thing I would look for is to check, clean and repair all earth connections and check wiring on the connector if wires are broken.
I agree, it seems likely that either the engine block isn't earthed well or the battery isn't connected to the body shell properly.
The engine ECU only needs about four wires connected for it to communicate with pscan. If you can get a diagnostic socket from a scrap car and some narrow style spade connectors you can power it up off the car and try it.
As well as checking earth points, also check the 60amp fuse by the battery, it could be corroded or burnt....My brother had an issue recently with his TF so slightly different setup as there is a 80amp fuse on the back of the engine bay.
He'd changed the alternator around 18 months ago as his had failed for one I had in a boot when I bought a TF, this worked ok but sometimes the charge light come on. Recently he had issues where battery went flat (lockdown and dark days hadn't help) check with pscan all appeared ok but voltage showed around 11.9v, though alternator could be iffy, especially as it had come out of the boot of a car I bought so he bought another second hand one which had been tested and was ok.
Fitted it, check voltage using a multimeter was just over 12v which seemed odd, out of curiosity I tried to remove the 80amp fuse which refused to budge, even with a pair of long nose pliers it was still difficult to remove. Finally pulled it out to find half of one spade connector burnt away, swapped with new fuse and voltage went up over 14v.
In relation to the starter motor, I have an F and TF with an iffy wire going to the solenoid can be fine for months, then every now and again, I have no click on the starter when turning key and have to open boot to wiggle cable on solenoid. Usually this works but sometimes no amount of wiggling will get it to work when on my own. When this occurs I usually need someone to turn the key while I wiggle the cable...may get them both sorted one day but as it only does this now and again I usually just role my sleeve up and wiggle the wire.
an iffy wire going to the solenoid can be fine for months, then every now and again, I have no click on the starter when turning key and have to open boot to wiggle cable on solenoid. Usually this works but sometimes no amount of wiggling will get it to work when on my own.
i had this for years on my v6 mg zs, eventually a change of starter and now fine.
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