Need Help Asap!

[Kahuna]

My VX is having a little problem. It won't start. I took in the battery and it's in great shape. Here is what is going on.

Dome light is sometimes on..sometimes off. Sometimes very bright and sometimes very dim. When I put in the key and turn....sometimes I get all the idiot light to go on..maybe a small click. While other times nothing goes on at all.

Does this sound familiar to anybody?

Any ideas?

[sveltax]

May be a faulty ground, or a stuck starter solanoid.

[Kahuna]

funny thing you say that. The guy at Sears (battery) said that as well. He said to "HIT" the starter with a hammer to see if it......connects. I tried but not sure how hard to hit or if I was hitting the right thing. I hit the part located on the left-side(facing the engine) under the heads connected with the belt. What part should I hit if any?

[sveltax]

I've done it with a regular hammer before. Just rap on it a couple times.

[Joe_Black]

funny thing you say that. The guy at Sears (battery) said that as well. He said to "HIT" the starter with a hammer to see if it......connects. I tried but not sure how hard to hit or if I was hitting the right thing. I hit the part located on the left-side(facing the engine) under the heads connected with the belt. What part should I hit if any?
That's the alternator, don't hit that. Your starter will be on the other end of the engine with the transmission, I believe on the driver's side. It'll be a large, round cylinder about 5 - 6" in diameter with heavy cable and a couple smaller gauge wires going to it. You should be able to see and access it easily by crawling under just behind the front wheel. Use a brass mallet or 2X4 to give it a good rap near the end where it goes into the bell-housing. If it starts after that then you need a solenoid replaced/rebuilt. I've had this done before with the 3.2 on one of my Troopers and total charge was about $35. If you can't locate it just post here and I'll take a pic or two for you.

[Heraclid]

What the heck, wasn't doing anything else productive...

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/463starter.jpg

It's the cylinder in the middle of the pic with the blue label on it. Mine reads "DENSO 12V", etc. Location is just like Joe said, adjacent to the exhaust downpipe.

[V-Twin hiCROSS]

Battery connections might also be suspect. Clean them good with wire bristles.

[BritVX]

You may also want to check the earth strap between the engine and body.

Col

[dkmiller68]

not only check it...remove it and clean the metal and cable (file or course sandpaper) on both ends. I believe it says in the manual that we have 2 or 3 body to frame connections to.

[MachineVX]

I had a similar problem with a bad ground.