First off, a thanks to everyone who replied. With a better idea of the
potential problem areas, I tackled it this weekend.
I replaced the lead from the battery to the starter solenoid, and cleaned
up the solenoid ground (it uses the mounting screws, and only one rather
rusty one was present). Moving to the starter end, I found the lead very
loose. I also found that the end plate of the starter was loose. So, I
cleaned up the connection to the starter, tightened it up a bit and
tightened up the 1/4" bolts holding the end plate on (it was actually
hanging off a bit). I pulled the ignition wire from the distributor cap
and decided to see how she cranked now with clean electrical connections
everywhere.
A small electrical fire and large cloud of smoke later, I've decided the
starter motor is shot. The solenoid appears to have fused shut, and the 4
gage or so wire to the starter motor melted through. The whole body of
the starter was also hot. As a quick side note, when faced with an
obvious short, go for yanking the negative lead rather than the positive
to avoid the exciting yet distracting sparks from bumping the frame while
unscrewing the lead.
So, I've decided there is a starter problem. Errr, probably a starter
solenoid problem too at this point. And the connection wire is certainly
shot. And a little wiring harness collateral damage (electrical tape
time!). Now I'm onto trying to get the starter out of the little hole it's
stuck in (I think I just need to pull the fuel pump so I can get it out)
and replacing the whole mess.
Thanks for the help,
John Weale
"British Racing Orange" 1980 Spitfire (out sick for the week)
1999 Zappy Electric Scooter, 18V mod (charging for the commute tommorrow)
On 21 Nov 2000, Richard B Gosling wrote:
> John,
>
> An old, worn starter motor can act just like you have a flat battery - very
> slow, laboured turning of the engine, giving up after 2 or 3 turns, even
> though the battery is totally full. Happened to me last year - 30 quid ($45)
> on a re-conditioned starter motor, and the problem was immediately solved.
>At
> that sort of price (I assume it is similar in the US), there is not a lot of
> point trying to dismantle the starter and fix the problem yourself, unless
>you
> fancy doing so for your own education/experience/amusement.
>
> If there is no movement at all when you turn the key, listen for a single
> click. If you've got one the solonoid is working, so it is probably the
> starter or the wiring to it (although it may be possible the solonoid is
> moving, but not closing the circuit - I don't know if that can happen), if
>you
> don't have a click the soloniod, or the wiring to is, is at fault.
>
> If the pinion teeth were ground off (also if the pinion was not engaging with
> the flywheel ring gear) you would get a different symptom - engine not
>turning
> over at all, but you can clearly hear the starter motor whizzing round.
>
> What I cannot understand is why this should only happen with the engine hot.
> Maybe heat affects an already dodgy starter and makes it worse? No idea. If
> you can bump start the car, I doubt there the engine itself is jamming - that
> would sieze it too solid to be able to push the car successfully, or if not,
> you would still feel a hell of a jerk as you let the clutch out to start the
> engine turning, and broke it free. Metal chips in the engine are not too
> serious a problem, depending where they went they will quickly work their way
> down to the sump, where they will sit harmlessly, and will probably come out
> at the next oil change. Unless they are VERY small, they will not be able to
> make it through to the bearings - even if they do get picked up out of the
> sump with the oil they will make it no further than the filter. They might
>do
> some damage to the pump on the way past, but you will soon know about that as
> you will have low oil pressure. Anything that makes it through the filter
>(if
> it is working properly) will be too small to damage the bearings.
>
> Fault no. 2 - I have twin SU carbs (and don't totally understand them), so I
> can't help you there!
>
> Richard & Daffy
>
"Real cars are designed to carry only two people, anything else is just a
bus." -- sig line stolen from the Triumph List
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