Renault Espace (2001) 2.2dci won't start.

[Ianhw77k]

It's the old, turn the key hear a clunk and nothing else problem. Here's the back story.
The car was left standing for a couple of weeks and the battery went flat, I checked it and it was down to 7.3v, so I charged it but the owner wanted to put a new battery in it. He got a decent quality battery and tried to install it himself, getting the contacts round the wrong way. I fitted it the right way, turned the key and just get the "clunk" of the solenoid.
So, I said I'll take the new battery back to my place and charge it. It Charged up fine, drop test says it's fine. Fitted it and still just get the clunk of the solenoid.

Somehow, I get talked into removing the starter motor as that's what a Renault mechanic said it must be. I've got the starter in my vice, tested it and it seems to work fine.

The only other thing to mention is that when I removed the first battery, there was what looked like a load of spray foam behind it. This turned out to be weird fluffy battery acid corrosion. I assumed the original battery must have been leaking although it's not showing any signs of leaking anymore. All this corrosion was cleaned up before we put the new battery in.

[Ianhw77k]

I think I've sussed this. I got it started today.
When I get the parts and get the job done properly, I'll write it up and post it here for future reference.
There's not much on the Internet about this particular problem so hopefully this will be of some help to people with the same problem.

Step one, DON'T REMOVE THE STARTER MOTOR!
What a pain in the backside that job is.

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

oh, I so empathise with you, doing a pig of a job and then realising that actually you needn't 've bothered. Got the T-Shirt.... as I'm sure have many others. Make it a large one from the drinks cabinet this evening once you're done & dusted for the day !!

[ekjdm14]

Oh yes, got the T-shirt and the scars too! Any further progress on the diagnosis/fix yet Ian, or was it deeper-rooted than you'd hoped?