Hi, Charles --
Sounds like you have either a bad starter, or some dirty/corroded
connections in the starter circuit. The click you hear when you turn the
key is the starter relay operating to apply battery voltage directly to the
starter. That part appears to be working normally.
I would disconnect and clean (with a small wire brush) all the ground and
hot connections to the battery (both ends of each cable), and make sure that
the connections are tight when you put them back together. Do the same with
the cable from the relay to the starter (both ends). It wouldn't hurt to
make sure the ground strap from the chassis to the engine is clean and tight
also. If that doesn't work, you haven't wasted too much time because all
that will go a long way to preventing starting problems in the future.
After that, I would suspect the starter. You can try jumping directly from
the battery + terminal to the starter terminal, but be careful, make sure
the car isn't in gear, and don't touch anything with the jumper wire on the
way down to the starter and back. If the starter operates then, you may
have a defective starter relay. Some chain auto parts places can check the
starter for you, but I have found that replacement starters are fairly
cheap, so if I was suspicious enough of my starter to remove it, I think I
would just replace it with a rebuilt unit.
Good luck!
Steve Byers
Havelock, NC USA
'73 Midget GAN5UD126009G "OO NINE"
"It is better to remain silent, and be thought a fool
than to speak, and remove all doubt" -- Mark Twain
----- Original Message -----
From: Charles D. Sorkin <cdsorkin@ix.netcom.com>
To: Spridgets list <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 1999 9:29 PM
Subject: What I need is a flowchart...
> Dear List:
>
> I truly regret burdening the list once again with a ubiquitous starting
> problem with the Midget. But here goes...
>
> Key in ingition, juice comes on, enough to light the headlamps, fuel pump
> clicks a few times. Then, turning the key results in a forceful click,
but
> the starter does not turn, nor does the enigine. The headlamps do not
seem
> to dim while turning the key. That would imply no voltage drop, and that
> the clicking could represent a failing solenoid. (But wouldn't that
prevent
> current from geting to the rest of the electrical system?)
>
> When I have had the occaisonal problem of the starter failling to
disengage
> from the ring gear, I was not getting much of a clicking sound, and
rocking
> the car while in gear would cause it to disengage and start normally.
>
> Any ideas about what to check and in what order?
>
> Something about my MG experience must be charmed in some way... every time
> the Midget has displayed an anomaly like this (it never breaks down, it
just
> has anomalies) it always does so within the safe confines of its own
garage.
> What a good little car.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Charles
> '74 Midget
> cdsorkin@ix.netcom.com
> Bloomfield, NJ
>
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