Perfectly starting 75 300 now silent
 

Well, my 75 300 which was starting nicely two days ago, now is silent. The battery is good, the accessories work, the headlights shine bright, but when I turn the key, the starter motor is silent. The glow plugs get hot, but no starter motor.

I have only worked on the headlights and changed a glow plug yesterday.

so what gives?:confused:

Is there a fuse for the starter motor?

BTW, i have recently had problems with the ignition lock. Sometimes it refuses to turn and I have to use all my wrist strength to get it to turn. Then it works fine for 10 starts or so, then locks up again.

Do I have to take off the dash to get the ignition lock out?

No that familiar with the 115 but I doubt there is a fuse in the starter circuit. Have you tried jumping the starter? 123's have a junction box where you can jump the terminals and engage the starter. 116's have them too so I'm guessing that a 115 has one somewhere.
It probably has something to do with the failing ignition switch. Again, I'm not familar with the 115's but on a 123, you don't want to let a problem like that fester because it reaches a point where the key won't turn at all and replacing the ignition assembly becomes a giant PIA. Much easier to do while the key is still turning.

HI Kerry, so how do i replace the key assembly? I took off the circlip but that didn't do anything. How do I get it out?

Try starting it in Neutral, its prolly a bad NSS.

I'm not familiar with the ignition assembly on a 115. Try a search. I doubt its the NSS if the key is having problems.

once the key turns he said the glowplugs were working, but when he turns it the rest of the way nothing happens... sounds like it could be a bad NSS.

He has other electrical problems with the car too.

i understand that, but i would first try and start the motor with the tranny in N

When you are having difficulty turning the key have you tried to turn the steering wheel at the same time? The steering lock may be sticking.

I would bet that the car will start when you put the shifter in neutral. If the sensor has not failed you may have lost the shifter bushings.

Hi Guys, yes I tried starting it with the shifter in neutral. The thing was starting fine and then today the starter motor is asleep.

jump the small phillips head screw to the upper most 17mm nut on the starter, it should engage the starter...

I jumped the screws as you said, and it got the starter motor to go.

Still, I discovered that my key is not the problem. It was just the steering wheel lock interfering with the key. So I don't know what the problem might be.