Opel Meriva random starting problem

DvB

Having a hard to resolve problems with the OH’s 2005 1.6L petrol Opel Meriva.
Starter motor was starting to give trouble just over a year ago, brought it to a mechanic who had the original starter reconditioned & it worked fine up until about 6 weeks ago when randomly the car simply wouldn’t start, turn the key in the ignition & all the lights on the dash etc would come on but all that happened with respect to the engine was hearing a solitary click each time the key was turned.

Brought it back to the same mechanic who said the starter was burned out & needed replacing (to be fair the smell of burning off it seemed to reinforce that thinking) we got a new started fitted but the same problem started a couple of days later, car wouldn’t start, dash would light up etc. but only a clicking sound from the engine compartment (the solenoid), brought it after push starting it & the mechanic replaced the wiring & the earth strap (he'd suspected tham as being in poor condition but appeared to be working) and all seemed to be spot on, for three weeks anyway, then randomly when out one afternoon we called into Liffey Valley, came out about half an hour later and out of the blue the car wouldn’t start with the exact same ‘symptoms’ as before. Ended up push starting it again & brought it home. Bizarrely it has started every time since, but my wife has no faith in its reliability now & to be fair I have to agree, the same problem with the same symptoms so soon is no coincidence, so we brought it back to the same mechanic who has subsequently gotten an automotive electrical engineer or suchlike to check the electrics, he’s come back and said he can’t replicate the fault & can’t find anything wrong. He still has the car & said he's determined to gte to the bottom of it.
Obviously we can’t simply let this go despite the fact it appears to be starting fine at the moment as IMO is it’s a given the thing will pack in again at an inopportune time, but am wondering if anyone else has any ideas? as everything that’s been suggested to date has been replaced with new parts & yet there’s obviously still something not right, so basically am wondering if anyone has any ideas or any experience of something like this?

The only other thing wrong with the car is that we have a fault with the headlight/sidelights indicator on the dash not working (which is what had me thinking there was an electrical fault of some kind) other than that it appears to have everyone scratching their heads, but I need an answer as until this the car was fine & what with it having low enough mileage had no plans to replace it for another 18-24 months.

Any help or ideas greatly appreciated.

jimgoose

Is it in the original battery?

DvB

jimgoose wrote: »

Is it in the original battery?

No, the original battery was replaced about 18 months-2 years ago.

jimgoose

DvB wrote: »

No, the original battery was replaced about 18 months-2 years ago.

Hmm. If I were you I'd check the charging voltage with a multimeter. It should be around about 14.6V.

DvB

jimgoose wrote: »

Hmm. If I were you I'd check the charging voltage with a multimeter. It should be around about 14.6V.

That's checked & its all working fine...