Tata Safari Storme shuts off in traffic: Minor issue with an easy fix

Tried everything possible on the roadside, however, was forced to take it to Tata's authorised service centre.

BHPian condor recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Experienced an issue with the Starter today.

I normally switch off the engine when the wait time at a signal is long, and did so today a couple of times when on my way to the office. However, on the 3rd instance, the Storme refused to start. I was in the right lane of a divided stretch, and traffic was busy. Tried to start, but when it didn't, I let the Storme move forward on the sloping road, and managed to bring it to the left side before starting the problem-solving process. Thanks a ton to all the other motorists who realized there is a problem, and let me move across from the right side to the left.

The electricals looked ok - the Stereo and power windows both work. However, on cranking, there is no sound that one would hear from the starter motor. Absolute silence.

Removed key and re-inserted, tried again. No luck (has worked once before in an instance long back)

Called Exide Batmobile who raised a paid service request. The person came after an hour, and we tried to jump-start by connecting the spare battery using the jump cables. This too didnt work.

The Amaron battery showed a health status of green, and the cells looked to have a full level of water in them, despite the 2 years of use.

We managed a push start and then I went directly to TASS. My regular mechanic checked it further.

The relays were good. However, the culprit turned out to be a loose clip on the cable connecting the battery to the starter motor. At the starter motor end, there are two types of connectors on this cable: a clip or a regular nut to hold the cable down. The problem noticed in my Storme was that it has a clip-type connector.

We tried starting a few times there, and it worked fine. Came home and checked it again after some time. Things look fine for now.

He also checked the battery for voltage levels, and it looks good. The starter motor did not have any powder/residue on the surface either.

So fingers crossed that the problem does not occur again.

*Btw is it correct that the Storme cannot be jump-started - the battery in the vehicle must be good. In other words, if the battery goes dead, then we need to either charge that battery outside and put it back in or place a good battery in the vehicle to make it start. Has anyone else faced this?

Here's what BHPian ph03n!x had to say on the matter:

Speaking purely from an electrical circuit perspective - I don't see why jumpstarting the Storme would be a challenge if battery is the issue. As long as the donor battery has adequate capacity to take the load, electrons are saying they'll do the work

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.