[Healeys] BJ8 starter removal

[BJ8Healeys]

Hi, Jorge -
I raise the car to remove the bottom bolt from the starter.  The only way to
get at it from the top is bending over the fender, and that is most
uncomfortable even if you can reach the bolt/nut with wrenches.

The ground for the white/red wire to the solenoid from the ignition switch
is by the fastening of the solenoid to the chassis.  This circuit activates
the internal solenoid pull-in coil to connect the battery directly to the
starter.  These heavy connections are not grounded to the chassis at the
solenoid (the ground is at the starter attach bolts), but if the solenoid
attachment to the chassis is loose, the solenoid itself may not work via the
ignition switch.  You can use the button on the back of the solenoid to
bypass the solenoid coil and operate the starter whether the solenoid is
attached to the chassis or not.   Assuming that all the external connections
are clean and tight, the starter should operate when the button is pressed
(make sure the car is in neutral!).  If not, then the starter is probably
faulty, or the internal solenoid battery/starter contacts are.

Steve Byers
HBJ8L/36666
BJ8 Registry
Havelock, NC  USA

-----Original Message-----
From: healeys-bounces at autox.team.net [mailto:healeys-bounces at autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of Jorge Garcia
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 10:43 PM
To: Austin Healey mailing_list
Subject: [Healeys] BJ8 starter removal

I am in the process of removing the starter from my BJ8 so far I have
removed all cable connections from the solenoid plus removed the top bolt.
The problem is the bottom bolt. Do I need to elevate the car in order to
have access to the nut for the bottom bolt? Access to the bottom bolt head
is no problem since I removed the transmission tunnel cover. Any advice will
be greatly appreciated. 
Second question: Is the solenoid grounded by being fastened to the chasis? I
found that the solenoid had come loose from frame and was wondering if this
may be the cause of my inop starter.
Thanks
Jorge Garcia