new Battery dead ? starter motor ?

cacaolat · Post by **cacaolat** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:43 am

Hi,
I wanted to start my beloved BX this morning and the battery just gave a little sign of live. It is only about 4 months old ! There was a burned electric kind of smell under the bonnet. The Roadside assistance guy gave the starter motor plenty of knocks. (I was even worried about him breaking the quite new looking starter motor) ..he turned up with a big recovery truck and really, didn't look like a real mechanc to me.
Could it really be the starter motor ? I am now waiting for another Recovery vehicle to lift me to a garage. I would appreciate any advice. If it is that Starter M. should I go for the original one ?
Thanks for any advice.

BX Bandit · Post by **BX Bandit** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:26 am

The garage should be able to test your battery. At 4 months old it unlikely to be your battery and in any event should still under warranty. With a burning smell, I would suspect your starter motor/solenoid. Some people, and I have in the past, fit replacement starters from a scrappy but from personal experience, it is worth getting new from GSF. Good luck

Stewart (oily!) · Post by **Stewart (oily!)** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 3:25 pm

To test for dead battery in the absence of the starter motor, switch on the headlights, are they white or orange? Blow the horn, do they dim? if the answers to the above is yes then it might be a dead/flat battery.
Stewart

cacaolat · Post by **cacaolat** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 3:43 pm

Hi, have already brought car to garage. You are right it was not the battery, as lights etc. still worked fine. It must have been a crap starter motor, as it still looks quite new.

Way2go · Post by **Way2go** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 4:18 pm

cacaolat wrote:It must have been a crap starter motor, as it still looks quite new.

That's good news as it clears up the worry of the burning smell too!