So I just took a three hour trip and everything went fine. Reached my destination and after eating lunch, my 2004 Disco wouldn't turn over. Windows roll up and down, I hear the "click" on the passenger's side when I turn the keys that I believe is the solenoid, and the dashboard lights come on, showing oil, battery and SRS—but oil level's good, albeit possibly on the high end, and battery checks out ok at O'Reilly's. Jump starting does nothing. Battery, alternator and starter all tested good.

So anyway, I leave the car and borrow a friend's to be late for a wedding. Get back two hours later and it starts up right away, albeit the crank seems to be a little sluggish. At O'Reilly's, it starts up again without being sluggish, after checking things out.

Clues:
1. Oil is on the high end of the stick; could too much oil cause this? What are the downsides of that anyway?
2. Could the solenoid cause this?
3. Could it be the battery even if it checks out ok? The car did get the battery drained a couple weeks ago after leaving the light on all night. The problem here is that we couldn't jump start the car either, so it should have worked if it was the battery, I would think.

Or what? I have no idea!! Why would it click but not even try to turn over?

Matt

 

Could be the starter.

 

Certainly sounds like a suspect sticky starter to me. You get dash lights, right? That might dim when you try to start?

Are you confident getting underneath it, locating the starter, and giving it a decent thwack with something - when it's doing its 'not starting' thing?

What can happen, is when the starter wears, it starts to jam in the casing. Giving it a smack frees it for that start. One thing, is that it gets you going, second thing is that it diagnoses the starter as the problem. (I once impressed a girl when the car wouldn't start, and to her it looked like I randomly tried smacking the engine, and it started. Another time I kept a big truck running for a year by hitting the starter with a bit of 2x4 every start.)

Other than that. It might be worth checking all the fat cables located around the battery for tight connection.

Edit, that fits with the solenoid clicking, but the starter not spinning.

 

1. No way will it cause your problem. The downside of high oil is it might physically interfere with the crankshaft (i.e. the crank splashes into it when spinning). The is bad because it causes weird stress on the crank, rods, and pistons, it reduces efficiency, and I bet the oil will froth up and not lubricate as well. If the oil gets aerated enough, bet the oil pump could lose its prime and stop working (really not good).
2. Yes, the starter solenoid is the most likely culprit.
3. I'd say it's unlikely to be the battery if it tests ok and won't jumpstart. If the battery is really, really dead, it will be difficult but usually still possible to jumpstart.

If I had your symptoms, I'd replace the starter before I did anything else. Most towns have a alternator/starter rebuild shop that will be much cheaper than anyone else and usually very fast as well. So I'd pull it, take it to them, then reinstall probly the next day..

 

You guys are like a lifeline. Thanks so much for your help and suggestions, I'm going to work on your ideas soon as I get a couple days off work—made it home ok without any problems starting again.

 

Maybe I just had bad luck, but I would avoid a reman starter from any of the national chain stores. I got a reman from the chain store where I work (cheaper with my employee discount) and it failed in about a week. Upgraded to one from Rovers North and have had no problems. Some time after the upgrade, my ignition key stuck in the start position , and I didn't realise what had happened for at least a minute or two. Next day I dropped the Rovers North starter, lubed the bearings, and it is still working flawlessly.