Having tested the 'new' battery and re-filled the coolant system we the set about re-connecting the battery. However due to slight
'compatibility' issues with the battery terminals we were forced to use our ingenuity and decided to temporarily connect it with a set of jump leads (see above).
With everything ready we waited with nervous anticipation for the key to turn...
and.... it didn't work! :( Although the starter motor was making a noise and trying to turn over slowly, it wasn't doing it anywhere near fast enough to start the engine.
Following advice from friends and forum posts we rocked the eSpace with it in gear, tapped (what we think was) the starter motor with a hammer in a vain attempt to 'free' a potentially jammed starter motor - but it was to no avail.
Un-deterred our intrepid heroes would not be beaten! The battery was mounted (read as 'wedged') on top of the the turbo, and with a bit of elbow grease the eSpace was pushed through the car park... Once up to speed the clutch was brought out sharply with the eSpace in 2nd gear and the engine spluttered into life!
Our £1 eSpace works! (sort of)
The joyous next few moments are shown in our blog's first video:
So our plan for the next few days is to positively identity the starter motor and source a 'new' one for as cheap as possible. Before we get one we'll try and get a mate who's a mechanic to take a look and see if he thinks its the starter motor (or in our dreams) something more simple. Stay tuned for developments...
1 comment:
I had the privilege of seeing the beast in the flesh last night, just as she had been started up again :-)
What can I say, she's a beauty. Brad and I suspect a previous owner must have done some major stealth weight saving though, possibly replacing many hidden body parts with carbon fibre?? We couldn't believe how light she was to bump start, even the 4th or 5th time ;-p
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