I just wrapped up a DIY timing chain job. Had the locking tools and the bentley manual, took my time over 2 weeks. Fun job.

Here's the problem. When I was doing the nervous inaugural crank, the engine would not turn, acted like a dead battery, which wasn't surprising, probably left the dome light on. After jumper cables didn't do anything it hit me...oh crap did I took the locking tool out of the flywheel right...nope. *Forehead smack* it was the end of a very long day and I was ansy to have this massive job done. I forgot that I reinstalled all 3 tools to recheck timing after rotating and the pin was still locking the flywheel.

Anyway car fired up, no problems. I've driven it about 30 miles no problems, BUT...the starter is now approx 2x slower. Every start cranks like a dead battery. I can't imagine that I would have overheated the starter, but with the push button start you can't just stop cranking like with a key, it held on the bound engine for about a full second. All total I only attempted cranking like 3 times before I discovered my mistake.

Would firing up the starter on a locked engine cause any lasting starter damage? Before I connected the two ground connections I sanded and de greased them, but i'm wondering if due to the amount of dis assembly that something knocked the starter ground funky.

Any ideas? When I get time I might start measuring voltage and resistance on the starter if it's easily accessible, but I really don't know much about starters, especially on european cars. Mainly i'm wondering if i've damaged the starter to a point which it could leave me stranded one day.


This is a 2007 S with 52k miles BTW. Thanks in advance.

 

52K miles is pretty low for an '07S. Sounds like mostly short-haul driving, or lotsa parked time. Either way, that's hard on battery life. If you're still running the original, it's probably shot --- low miles, but high years for a battery. Try monitoring the voltage while it's being cranked --- no load is about 14.5V and shouldn't go much below 12V while cranking (I don't remember the exact values). Maybe report your findings for someone else to evaluate.

I can't comment on your starter question --- no expertise. However, when you push the start button, the cycle lasts about 15 - 20 seconds before it automatically stops. I timed mine (also an '07S) before my first compression test. This cycle can also be interrupted by pressing the start button again, to stop it. I'd suspect the battery before the starter, it's also a lot easier to check.

Congrats on a successful timing chain job. Not an easy task. Having said this, hope there's nothing around the chain causing it to bind --- hard to crank. Not likely, but keep this in mind if nothing else fixes it. Maybe you also forgot the chain tensioner, and left the tool in its place?

 

It might just be your batteries if they are the original ones. The battery might got shorted with the starter being stuck on the locked flywheel. Try swapping the battery.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Yes the car has been garaged and weekend driven until I bought it 2 years ago. I could have sworn I replaced the battery last year, if so it would probably still be under warranty. I'll take it up to Autozone and have it tested.

Honestly the car has been parked for 2 months, and we just had a 30* drop cold snap since then, I would assume the battery would have charged back up, but like the above guy said maybe I killed a few cells within the battery. I was just initially freaked since I really need a reliable set of wheels right now, and i'd hate to have to park it and do another job on it.

Edit, I verified all the tools are in the box, and prior to checking the timing on the last step, the engine turned over freely with a ratchet, or as freely as possible with compression, etc. When it wouldn't crank, the only tool that was missing was that pesky flywheel pin tool.