[Mgs] MGB not (re)starting

[Steve Shoyer]

Thanks.  I don't think it's the battery.  The battery is about two years 
old, and it's been plugged into a battery tender over the winter.  I 
didn't have any trouble getting the starter to crank, and I was running 
the starter for a while without the battery appearing to run down.

I'll have to test it by starting the car cold, driving it around my 
neighborhood for a while, then parking it back in my garage and trying 
to restart it after 20-30 minutes.  If it won't start I can pull the 
plugs and take a look, and also test the battery to see if it wasn't 
holding the charge.  I can also check compression at that point - maybe 
the head gets loose when it warms up?

I also thought it might be the coil - I had read that sometimes after 
the coil gets warm it can cause intermittent problems.  If that was the 
case I'd think the car wouldn't run after being push started, but I'm 
far from an expert.  I was just guessing at the carb because I've never 
been good at tuning carbs, and it's the last thing I changed on the car.

--Steve

On 3/10/2020 3:17 PM, Michael MacLean via Mgs wrote:
> Check the battery connections, clean and replace.
> Mike MacLean
> 69 MGB GT
>
> On Tuesday, March 10, 2020, 11:41:43 AM PDT, dave via Mgs 
> <mgs at autox.team.net> wrote:
>
>
> What is the voltage on the battery?  See:
>
> https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/r/advice/car-maintenance/car-battery-voltage-range
>
> *From:* Mgs <mgs-bounces at autox.team.net> *On Behalf Of *Max Heim via Mgs
> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 10, 2020 12:59 PM
> *To:* MGs <mgs at autox.team.net>
> *Subject:* Re: [Mgs] MGB not (re)starting
>
> What makes you think it was carb related? The fact that you could push 
> start it makes me think it was more likely battery or starter related. 
> It being the end of winter, I suspect a flat battery.
>
> --
>
> Max Heim
>
> '66 MGB
>
>     On Mar 10, 2020, at 10:46 AM, Steve Shoyer via Mgs
>     <mgs at autox.team.net <mailto:mgs at autox.team.net>> wrote:
>
>     It was in the 70's yesterday, so I took my 1980 MGB out for a
>     ride.  My current carb is a Weber 38 DGES that I installed when I
>     replaced the cam two years ago.  I drove around last year and it
>     was running well, until one day when I stopped at a store for a
>     few minutes and then couldn't get the car restarted.  After trying
>     to get it going I wound up calling my daughter for help and we got
>     it push-started. Yesterday the same thing happened. After the push
>     start the car ran fine, but I just drove it home rather than risk
>     another problem.  I was trying some starter fluid to get it going
>     yesterday, but that didn't work.  I thought that maybe the gas in
>     the tank is old, but the car started up after a little cranking
>     when I originally left the house.
>
>     Any suggestions on where to look?  I didn't plumb the coolant line
>     through the manifold to heat it, but I don't drive too much in
>     cold weather so I didn't think it would be needed.  I thought that
>     the problem last summer could have been vapor lock, but starter
>     fluid should have worked if that was the issue.
>
>     Thanks.
>
>     --Steve (1980 MGB)
>
>


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