Hello from Sweden

denkajunior

Member
New member here. I picked this car up yesterday evening for the equiviant of 120 GBP. Was that a steal or was it a steal? 2001 year, Body and interior are very nice, Five seats. 1.4L gasoline, Large panorama sunroof. I love the color. But the car won´t start. Engine turns over manuelly and the cambelt is ok it appears. So it hasn´t seized up. I think it may be the starter motor. It just clicks on turning the key and won´t turnover. I have always wanted to build an electric car and when this deal popped up I had to act fast. Litterally took 4 minutes for me to buy it from when the seller published the add. Looking forward to asking lots of questions as I am a total A2 newb but I am car guy and have several other projects and classic cars. Jeeps, mustangs and old volvos.

Are starter motors a common problem on these cars? Any other tips on what to look for are welcome.

I have never noticed an A2 this color?

Who would have imagined this 24 hours ago, LOL. This should be fun however it turns out.

cheers !!

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Welcome to the forum :) Oh wow, a Jaipur Red for your £120 too - you have done well!

Assuming the battery is OK for the other electrics on the car, the first thing I would do is check the engine earth strap, which goes from the starter motor to a point behind the driver's side (on an LHD car) headlight, where there is a 10m bolt grounding it to the body. This connection suffers badly from galvanic corrosion and may not be allowing enough current to flow for the starter to operate. For the bolt head, take the headlight out, and look along the extension member of the chassis behind it, to where there is vertical metal. If the car has Climate, it'll be behind the metal pipes. A small socket set with a long extension and maybe a UJ will be required! Clean the surfaces right back to bare metal and also check that the earth strap is not corroded through inside its plastic casing. You should think about making a second earth from the engine to another point on the bodywork, a backup never hurts :)
 
Apart from battery, is the starter motor earth good? When this is corroded (happens often in older cars) this simulates a bad battery even when the battery is good because there is a strong resistor in the return path for current needed to turn the starter.

Bear in mind also at this age that the coil may be not great, but all signs so far suggest low battery or bad earthing. Best of luck!!
 
Yes an absolute bargain.

Have you changed the battery yet for a known good one?
Hello A2Steve, Put in a better used battery in and checked all the electric stuff, Sunroof, electric windows, lights, horn, radio, fan, heated seats. Everything works but won´t turn over.
 
Welcome to the forum :) Oh wow, a Jaipur Red for your £120 too - you have done well!

Assuming the battery is OK for the other electrics on the car, the first thing I would do is check the engine earth strap, which goes from the starter motor to a point behind the driver's side (on an LHD car) headlight, where there is a 10m bolt grounding it to the body. This connection suffers badly from galvanic corrosion and may not be allowing enough current to flow for the starter to operate. For the bolt head, take the headlight out, and look along the extension member of the chassis behind it, to where there is vertical metal. If the car has Climate, it'll be behind the metal pipes. A small socket set with a long extension and maybe a UJ will be required! Clean the surfaces right back to bare metal and also check that the earth strap is not corroded through inside its plastic casing. You should think about making a second earth from the engine to another point on the bodywork, a backup never hurts :)
Thanks Proghound, I will look at the ground tomorrow and see if its bad.
 
Apart from battery, is the starter motor earth good? When this is corroded (happens often in older cars) this simulates a bad battery even when the battery is good because there is a strong resistor in the return path for current needed to turn the starter.

Bear in mind also at this age that the coil may be not great, but all signs so far suggest low battery or bad earthing. Best of luck!!
Thank you for your reply Robin, I will check the ground for sure.
 
Hello A2Steve, Put in a better used battery in and checked all the electric stuff, Sunroof, electric windows, lights, horn, radio, fan, heated seats. Everything works but won´t turn over.
All the more reason to check the starter motor earth as described above! Good luck
 
Has anyone mentioned that we think you might need to look at the starter motor ground / earth? :)

Sounds like a deal, a steal, and a sale of the er. Century. Jaipur A2 for £120.
 
Has anyone mentioned that we think you might need to look at the starter motor ground / earth? :)

Sounds like a deal, a steal, and a sale of the er. Century. Jaipur A2 for £120.
LOL, Is it an unusual color this Jaipur? I wouldn´t know at all. Just never noticed one myself.
 
Jaipur Red was only available until the end of the 2001 model year so it's quite a rare sight on an A2. It was the brightest colour they came in until the colour.storm editions turned up later in the production run.

Nice Volvo 142 in your profile picture by the way :) Sadly we never really got the 2-door saloons here after the Amazon - not in any great numbers anyway, and I think those may have been LHD cars.
 
Jaipur Red was only available until the end of the 2001 model year so it's quite a rare sight on an A2. It was the brightest colour they came in until the colour.storm editions turned up later in the production run.

Nice Volvo 142 in your profile picture by the way :) Sadly we never really got the 2-door saloons here after the Amazon - not in any great numbers anyway, and I think those may have been LHD cars.
Thanks for the info. I really like the color! Yes, they are becoming rare even in Sweden these old volvos. Old girl just turned 50 years old. 1972
 
Welcome to the forum & absolute bargain find, a good used headlight will cost more than what you paid for the car:D
 
Hej, roligt att se fler nordiska människor här! :)

That's a really nice find. Unfortunately I don't have any advice on the topic, but I'm sure you will find the solution with all the experienced and helpful people out here. There's really few A2s for sale here in Finland but there's currently one Jaipur red with OSS that I was interested in until I noticed it has no air conditioning. :(
 
The A2 is probably one the best cars to convert to EV .This an old YouTube link
This is bit newer and was also on the forum but news has gone a bit quiet
 
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