Hi guy's
Not long had my rrs,few niggley things to sort. But at the moment the one i want to sort first is when turning the key to start it, all i get is a click,doesnt do it all the time, but is getting more frequent if i turn the key and try again it works.
All power and earth leads appear to be tight and in good condition.
Is this a sign the starter is on its way out ? or maybe something more simple.
Any advice would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance.

Been having the same issue with mine for a few weeks now. There is a relay in the fusebox next to the battery labelled as 'SM' in the diagram inside the lid. If this is faulty can cause the non-start. You can exchange it with one of the adjacent identical relays or pop it open and clean it.

Problem with mine is the symptoms will disappear for a couple of weeks and then come back for no apparent reason. I'm starting to suspect it is the big solenoid that is integral to the starter motor. You can change the whole starter motor or get a kit to just refurbish the solenoid part.

Problem is that the starter is quite hard to get out on the TDV8 so I keep putting it off! 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

Hi Paddi,
just been out and tried three other relays and no different, but thanks for the suggestion.

Might be worth checking the earth strap on the starter motor (both ends)

will look at that tomorrow ta.

I didn't think the starter had an earth strap.

Check the battery earth lead though, where it connects to the inner wing is tight

http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic41936.html?highlight=start

Thanks but not what im experiencing

It is very difficult to diagnose such an intermittent fault. Weirdly, mine has been starting on the first turn of the key for a fortnight now. If you search the web you'll find threads from owners having the same issue persisting even after replacing battery and starter motor. I am going to ask my local independent specialist to look at it. They are very good so will post up results if a solution is found . 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

Paddi - Are you saying the relay change hasn't completely fixed your issue ? But significantly improved it?

Andy,
Changing or cleaning the relay certainly didn't eliminate the problem. As it is intermittent it's jolly hard to say if changing the relay made any difference at all.

Sometimes it takes four or five attempts to get the starter to turn and then the fault might not reoccur for a week or two.

Maybe it is possessed  2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

maybe completely useless but I had similar issues with a syncro transporter a year or so ago. it would start fine and then for no reason it would just click the solenoid as if battery was flat. turned out to be an earth from the engine (gearbox) to body that was being loose and becoming insulated by oil when hot.

its worth checking the connections with things that are intermittent

Nutter,
Yes good point. Especially as the problem first appeared a couple of weeks after my Indie had the body off. They are very very good but even the best sometimes forget to spanner up.
Earth leads can also go bad even if superficially they look perfect - well known problem on Porsche 993s - causing poor starting and even rough running. 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE