GTI Mk1 Wont Turn Over or Crank!?

Hey guys! I have a 1989 GTI mk1 (someone said it might be mk2… another question; how do you tell the difference??) and tonight I went to drive it and it just didn't start. It didn't even try to turn over. It's just me so I can't tell if the solenoid clicked at all. The wiring looks good from the battery to the starter. Not sure what to check or how to test them. Are there ways to test the starter or solenoid? Or does anyone think it could be something else?

Thanks in advance.

Dead battery?

Is it a convertible? If not then it's a mk2. 

89 must be a convertible.
Whatever check your battery terminals and earth to start with.

How old is the battery?
Because it draws a great deal of power to turn over the engine.
Often you'll find that it's got enough to power lights and stuff but that's nothing compared to the drain on it when it starts the engine.

Just take your time and be methodical about how you approach this or any other issue.

I often say to people when I see them getting totally carried away with a problem to stop and I use this as an example.

I say look if my car doesn't start I look to see if there's any petrol in the tank first. I don't start by jacking it up and ripping the back axle out! 😉 👍🏼

Sent from my Smartphone ☃️

Thanks guys! I tried Jumpstart to test if it was re battery. Same issue. Doesn't even try to crank. All the wiring seems great. What would be the next step? Take out the starter and check it?

Are you sure the jumppack is a fully charged? Does initially sound like a flat battery problem.

Does the car have an immobiliser, these can sometimes play up and disable the starting circuit.

Years ago I had a wonky ignition switch (the switch below the ignition lock) which give symptoms of a duff battery or starter. Try jiggling the key around.

Might be useful to join the AA or RAC………

 

Place the car in Neutral, or Park.

Turn the ignition on to run.

Parking Brake on.

Take a large jumper wire and hit the solenoid wire on the starter to see if the starter will spin.  If it does then look at a break from the ignition switch,  ignition switch itself…

You can in stall a heat soak relay…see the below drawing.





Off loads current off the ignition switch shortens the wire run from the ignition switch to the starter solenoid by 5 to 8 feet.

If it doesn't spin, then smack it with a hammer 3 times, then try it again…..
if it starts after the smacking then it is the starter, if it still doesn't start it is the starter.
Going back install a heat soak relay, you 'll be glad you did.

Caveats:
Battery fully charged,
Ground wires from battery to engine are clean and no voltage drop.

 

This is the same guy  or logged in. I shorted the back of the solenoid and It didn't crank. I was about to clean the wiring  and if that doesn't work replace the starter. Before though someone said "check fuses and starter relay" but he said might not apply to gti. So on mk2 could it be fuses or relay?

Briano1234 said

Place the car in Neutral, or Park.
 

Thanks Brian. Tried all that. Still nothing. Doesn't start after hitting it or shorting it. So I guess im left to replace the solenoid starter?

What car is it?

1989 16 valve manual gti mk2

So I cleaned up the wiring and hit the starter a lot with a hammer and it fired right up! Definitely, the issue lies in the starter. I am going to replace it but for now, a mini hammer works great! Thanks for all the advice guys. 

Before you go to the expense of buying a Starter. If you cleaned up all the wiring are you sure it wasn't just a bad connection ?

Worked for a few days. I just went to turn it on and it didn't start. I undid the wiring again, cleaned it. Hit it with a hammer. When I went to connect the positive terminal back it sparked and smoked. Did I accidentally create a short somewhere? I'm very lost on what happened in between my steps.

Well the starter shouldn't of sparked and smoked normally if you replaced the power lead.

I would suspect that your Solenoid is bad.
and that your starter itself is toast as the bearings or rotor was sticking….  

Replace the starter/solenoid, and I would install a new bushing.