Topic: powered up but wont go - pod lights up okay, clicking noise when go pressed

[mlasham]

Hi
I've a C5 that use to work but its been in the garage for about 3 years without use.
Yesterday I got a new car battery and had a go. 
The battery leds on the pod show full charge, and the draw leds only show the two ambers at each end.
When I press the go button however, I get one green led on the left hand side of the pod, and a clicking noise coming from the control box where the fuses are.
Both the fuses appear okay.
Any ideas please?
I got this out as an advertising company here in Auckland want to borrow it for an ad they are filming, and murphes law has kicked in

Cheers

[radiomarty]

Sounds like the red harness connection raising its head again .Make sure the harness in the back of your pod is fully home and pins are clean.Also a common fault when they have sat a while is the brushes sticking up and not making contact.Try running the motor direct of the battery

[mlasham]

thanks , removed the harness from the pod and reconnected.  Looks all clean and okay.
My C5 is being borrowed by a film company and they are picking it up today so I wont be able to test running the motor directly from the battery.   

[Retro Andy]

What's the filming for ?

Retro Andy.

[mlasham]

I think it is a TV advert.  Will keep you posted.

[Karl]

I think it is a TV advert.  Will keep you posted.

sounds good 

[mlasham]

Hi
C5 still not going.  I've tested R1 and the regulator nearby - both behaving as expected.
I then removed the red and black cables to from the control box which power the motor and connected them direct to my battery. Still nothing.  Do I have to remove any of the other wires going to the motor first?
My batter is reading 12.0v, is this enough?

[coverman]

Battery on no-load should read 13.8V

[C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER]

Hi there when you connected the black and red wires of the motor did the motor run ...If not you may find that the brushes are stuck in the tubes .What have to do is release them by putting in a little WD40 and them try and pull them out a little to release them  but be carefull not to snap them of the brushes ....

Bye Chas

[Karl]

Does the motor/gearbox assembly turn freely by hand in each direction ?

As Chas says, if you directly connect the motor to a battery it should run. Doesn't even matter if you get the polarity wrong when bench testing as the motor simply runs in reverse.

If the brushes are free and making good contact, and the motor still fails to run, then you need to dismantle the motor and see if the magnets have dropped (not uncommon)
http://c5alive.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1084.0
These links may help;

http://c5alive.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=368.0

http://c5alive.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2025.msg16375;topicseen#msg16375

[mlasham]

I've sprays wd-40 into the brushes and wiggled them - I did not really feel any movement or anything.  However when I connected to the battery I could hear a buzzing noise and smell the wd-40 heating up.  So I wiggled the drive belt back and forward and the motor started to turn slowly.  After awhile it speed up.  I then put everything back together, and connected the battery in the standard way.  Pushing the "go" button had the motor turning slowly again, so I just kept it pushed.  Eventually the motor has speed up but still not going too fast.  With the wheels of the ground its okay, but I think with resistance  it will not work. 
This may be due to my cheap battery I suspect. 

[Karl]

Battery on no-load should read 13.8V

Assuming you tried the other suggestions and all is well with the motor/gearbox, it looks like coverman has the answer then - your battery is kaput.

[Lancealot]

I had a similar issue with my first battery even it being brand new 85Ahr leasure battery just not enough.

Take motor of your c5 and try it on your own car battery. BUT WATCHOUT for the sudden kickback.

Lance

[coverman]

don't bother taking motor out, just run jump leads from known good battery to yours.

[mlasham]

I've now tested this with a known good leisure battery and it still does not work.
However, looking through the end of the motor you can see a layer of dark/carbon where the brushes would rub.
If I spray CRC in there I can get the motor to work , but only slowly, and I often have to wiggle the wheel to make it go.

So I guess I need to take the motor out.
Now I am a bit confused reading the posts about motor maintenance.
Do I have to take off the gear box to pull the armature out?
Also I am not sure what the instructions mean by "lift" the bushes.  I cannot even wiggle them, let alone lift them.
I am not very mechanically minded so need real basic step by step guides