Ke30 suddenly wont start

[dogbless]

Hi all,

My ke30 which had been running fine until the other day suddenly stopped starting. There's no sound what so ever when you turn the key, battery is fine, timing is fine, carby is getting fuel, fuses are all fine. I've ordered a new starter motor because that's all i can think of or maybe some electrical fault that means the starter isn't getting power? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Further context, It's got a 3T in it running with an old asian carby which has been rebult. Currently sitting at a radiator repair shop as they had to bypass the oringinal copper pipe valve to the heater core, don't imagine anything they were doing would have caused the issue, but who knows.

[Banjo]

Most good mechanics, always disconnect the battery, or main fuses when working in a engine or mechanical issues in the engine bay.  Maybe they didn't disconnect the battery, & the main fuse next to the battery terminal has blown. Five minutes with a multimeter, or 12 volt test light, will unearth, where your "no starter" issue lies.

Let us know what you find.

Cheers Banjo

[altezzaclub]

Auto or manual?? If manual, push start to see that everything except the starter is working.  It would be easy for them to knock a wire in the engine bay and break a bad connection that was just about to break anyway.

Either way, chase the wire to the solenoid with a multmeter as Banjo said, see if power gets to there.

If it does, solenoid is crook.

If the solenoid goes "Click" when you hit 'start' but no starter motor, starter is crook.

If the power doesn't get to the solenoid, chase it back to the key wires as the key 'start terminal' inside the ignition block might be crook.

If there is power coming out of the key start wire but not getting to the solenoid, check the relay in the middle.

Banjo put a KE30 wiring diagram up on here a decade back, but he's so old now he forgot! It would pay to PM him and get a good copy as they're hard to read.

Let us know how you go, its always interesting to see what goes wrong.

[Banjo]

Quote

There's no sound what so ever when you turn the key, battery is fine, 

What you haven't told us, is when you turn the ignition key on; whether the warning lights come up on the dash board.  If they don't, then the problem is as I described in my previously post.  However, if the warming lights come on, the issue is between battery & starter motor, which is a very simple circuit.

Cheers Banjo

[Banjo]

 

Quote

Banjo put a KE30 wiring diagram up on here a decade back, but he's so old now he forgot!

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Banjo

[altezzaclub]

Cheers!

[Banjo]

You look very smart with a tie !

Cheers !

[dogbless]

Thanks for your help y'all. Multimeter found the issue. The first terminal from the battery lead had a dodgy connection. Previous owner had over crimped one side and it wasn't pushing together properly. Managed to wrangle it together for now and will re-fit the dodgy side properly to stop it happening again.

I'm not very electrically savvy, fortunately there was a bloke there who helped me figure out where to look! All a learning process.

Only a few more things left to go in getting it roadworthy. Will probably post some victory photos when the day comes. 👍

Thanks again.

[Banjo]

Hi Zoe ! 

Glad you got your KE-30's  3T engine running again.  Connections between battery terminals & the starter motor are so important, as lots of current flows, between battery & starter motor, during cranking.  As it's a circuit; the connections  on the ground or chassis side, are just as important, as the battery positive (+ve) side.

Cheers Banjo.

 

We look forward to you posting some pics.