Starter motor not turning over

[Bmxdale Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bmxdale]

Hi guys, sorry in advance for the massive life story but any help would be appreciated, and I've got a 2011 gx prado manual diesel. Cheers.

I have this slight problem where the car doesn't want to start, I went out to glasshouse on sunday and got stuck and for about 5 minutes the alternator was sitting in the muddy water. After i was pulled out, the battery light came on, I spray some inox on all the termials and tried to get to the alternator.

Hoping it was just the alternator getting flooded and it would dry, i drove like normal noticing that when i was in high revs (about 2500 - 3000) the light would go out.

About an hour later we start pumping our tires up and head home, while the compressor was going I heard that it was slowly dieing, so i quickly turn the compressor off as it almost stalled my car.

We got the multimeter out and checked the voltage, i had about 6 volts at that time in the battery, so I reved the car to see if it started charging but nothing at all. Then the car choked and stalled, got a jump start and made it about 100m before the tacho went dead and the accelerator did nothing.

Got it towed home and i cleaned everything out (focusing on the alternator) and charged the battery over night. Woke up this morning and the starter motor doesn'teven want to try, I hear the tick from the starter but after that nothing, the light that come up on the dash are an orange engine light, oil light, hand brake light even though its not on, and the battery light.

If any you you guys could point me in the right direction that would be appreciated thanks. Dale.

[nudgebar Member Find all posts View Profile Close nudgebar]

put it this way - if the alternator was under water then so was the starter motor. either the starter or the solenoid are full of mud lost likely.

[Guest Close Guest]

What is voltage at the battery when you turn the key to start? Could be a number of things.

By the sounds of it your Alternator is gone, Mine did exactly same symptoms after being in water.. Once you get car running you can check it is charging or not, Repair replace as required.
If you have a low battery still (Maybe a small charger overnight didn't do enough, but enough to illuminate your lights on dash etc). Check battery voltages at sitting (off charger) and when starting. Recharge/replace as required.
The dash can throw weird lights when battery voltage is low. I am guessing this is the issue your having.. If your charger is only small (Say 1-3 amp charge) it will take a lot more than overnight to charge a battery from <6 volts to a point of floating again, mine took like 2 whole days till charger went into float mode after i swamped my alternator in a huge puddle.

Bottom line, reach for the multimeter first thing before trying anything else.

[JimmyC Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JimmyC]

Just like the others have said it sounds like you have done your alternator with the strong possibility that your starter is full of crap too.
Like Piggy said make sure your battery is fully charged first as a flat battery can also make the same noises at the starter as a dodgy starter.
If the battery is full and it still clicks then remove the starter (easy job) and clean the solenoids then make sure you re-seal it well.
If the car then does start check the voltage while running with your multimeter to see how your alternator is going.
Unfortunately the prado alternators are terribly positioned in the engine bay to prevent water ingress. With that prevention is always the best cure to avoid alternator disaster.

[Bmxdale Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bmxdale]

Thanks for that guys, I'll give it a bit more charge time and see what happenes

[LeighW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close LeighW]

When you get it running, pray a lot of clean water from a high pressure hose into the alternator,
if your lucky the mud may wash out. Also make sure the alternator itself is spinning as it
may just be the clutch on the pulley that's the problem.