Werid Starting issue

[Aragorn]

friend was round at the weekend and he braught his nova with him

he has this weird problem - if it sits for any length of time it refuses to turn over

the dash etc all lights up and battery guage reads 12v but when he turns the key - zippo - the dash goes off totally and comes back on when he releases the key

i hooked some jump leads up to a transit van and tried to start again - this time it was turning over - but very irratically - ie it wasnt constantly turning slowly - it would crank slowly a few times then stop then once then a few more times and refused to start

then i blipped the throttle on the transit and it instantly fired up and ran ok

this happens any time he leaves it sitting like overnight, and the procedure was exactly the same when jumping it off my nova

any ideas?

thanks

[ade]

could it be the starter motor?

My m8's cossie recently did a similar thing - turned key, all lit up but the engine did nothing!

Couldnt jump start it, even tried jump starting and it turned erratically and didnt get going.

He ended up whacking the starter (at the fron of a cossie) with a hammer - tons of sparks flew out of it and it started :o

Cost him ?20 for a 2nd hand one.

Check the wiring - could be it ... but then again?

Ade

[Manta Mad]

might be a bad earth connection between the engine and chassis.