A non starter

[alpinemauve]

All ready to go and nothing.

A new battery and the lights are nice and bright but press the starter solenoid button or turn the key and nothing. There is a slight single 'click' from the solenoid/starter area but nothing.

The car did turn and run for a few seconds - surely the battery hasn't gone already?

The only other odd thing all electrics work except for the horns - which did work but now do not.
Poor earth somewhere?
Any other things it could be?

[Steve Cureton]

Sounds like a faulty solenoid or starter motor. Start by shorting out the two main terminals on the solenoid with a big screwdriver. There will be a bit of a spark so don't panic, but do make sure the screwdriver does not come in to contact with earth. If the engine spins over then the solenoid is faulty or the control wire to the solenoid may be faulty or dirty, otherwise you have a problem at the starter motor. It could be just a poor connection so disconnect the battery, then undo the nut holding the cable on the motor. Clean up the cable connector using a wire brush and reconnect it. Hopefully it will now start, but if not then the starter is probably faulty. This could just be due to worn brushes which are easy to replace.