Moss Motors, Ltd

Chimmie,

At first blush, it seems like your starter motor is probably gummed up and may have tarnished commutator segments or bad bushings (bearings). The later I doubt since it has been replaced recently (at least in miles, I assume). Pull it out and try it on the bench with your truck battery. If it's still slow, take it apart and clean everything, emery cloth the commutator, lubricate the bushings on the shaft, and try it again. Not everyone likes to mess with these old electrical parts, but there may be an "auto electric" place near you.

---

Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

Chimmie, I dont know how difficult it is to get at the starter on your car [note I dont say 'how easy' its never easy!] Ive had starters go lazy on me, usually its the series field-windings get shorted-turns, i.e insulation breakdown, but this can't be your problem cos its a fairly new motor. Ive also had problems after putting in new brushes, the brushes were not bedding down properly and only a small part of the brush ended up in contact with the commutator. Theres a significant voltage drop across the brushes even on a 'perfect setup'. With a skewed brush it could cause your problem, and get damned hot in the process. If you can [cautiously!] poke a finger at the brushes after you've gone thru your start up process it might tell you something.

If you do take the motor out and connect up on the bench, be carefull, try and restrict it a bit , you've got a couple of horse-power leaping around there!! Don't run the motor at speed for too long or you will run the bearings as well!! Maybe look at the brushes for wear patterns before you connect up the juice??    Hope you fix it   Cheers    steve

---

To a man equipped with only a hammer, most problems look like nails

Thanks Motorbill66 and Mgnutcase for you suggestions.

 I bench tested the starter and its speed seemed to be right up there. I also bench tested the old starter and it spun up also.

 Re-installed the newer starter and still have the same problem. Slow short spin and then stops.

Do you have any other ideas?

Thanks, Chimmie

Starter may not be aligned properly. Poor ground. Poor live wire feed. Same number of teeth as original?

 

Alfonso 

Like Alfonso said, double-check the engine-to-body grounding strap for condition and corrosion between the contact surfaces.  If it's the original, it's due for replacement.  Try using a jumper cable as a temp grounding strap between the block and ground battery terminal and crank away.  You've confirmed the motor and battery are good, so all that's left is the wiring.  Also check the battery grounding cable contact face where it is attached to the body.

 Alfonso,

 What do you mean by 'aligned properly'? I just slide the starter into the bell housing, line up the two bolts (there is no play in the bolts radially) and tighten them down.

 

Thanks Chimmie

In english Fords it is common to have to check alignment by placing washers on the bolts between the starter and bellhousing, one side at a time, so that the shaft of the starter is oriented properly. I asume that the number of teeth is the same as the original. Most probably the cause is electric.

Hope I answered your question.

 Alfonso 

Generally speaking, this "shimming" of starter motors, which is common on American cars (especially GM) is not a factor with Healeys. You bolt 'em in, they're in place. Period. Look for a bad ground or an engine that's trying to lock up. (I hope not) See if you can push the car with the transmission in top gear and the plugs out. If the brakes are free, it should be possible, with effort.

---

Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

What state is the Flywheel ring gear in? If it was really chewed up in places the starter could be trying to jump a tooth and temporarily jamming when it does.

Cheers   steve

---

To a man equipped with only a hammer, most problems look like nails

Chimmie,

I'm wondering if you ever resolved this problem.  I have the exact same problem on my BJ8.  I've been ignoring it for a long time because the car always does start in the end.  But it's been bothering me.  I plan to check all the cable connections as advised and I wondered if your troubles were that simple.

---

=====================
Austin Healey 3000 MkIII ph2, 1965
MG TC, 1949
Corvette, 1966

Hopefully someone is still watching this thread.  I cleaned the cable connections at the battery, battery to frame, both sides of the solenoid, starter, and both ends of the frame/engine ground strap.  Still I have slow cranking (too slow to actually start at this point). 

Side note, the battery is only 3 yrs old but I brought it to two different places to have it tested. Both places reported that it is fine.

After cleaning up all the cable connections I noticed a problem.  After cranking for several seconds the cables get hot at both sides of the solenoid.  Since I can rule out corrosion after the clean-up, what else would cause the cables to heat up... could the solenoid be the problem?

Someone in the thread suggested that the ground strap should be replaced, which I intend to do, but I inspected it and found it to be in pretty good shape.  Maybe not "like new" shape, but the braid and the ends were in tact with just a couple of individual strands freyed.  Is that enough to kill a good ground?

Lastly, is there any practical way to test the starter's health while still in the car?

---

=====================
Austin Healey 3000 MkIII ph2, 1965
MG TC, 1949
Corvette, 1966

PhilG:

Someone in the thread suggested that the ground strap should be replaced, which I intend to do, but I inspected it and found it to be in pretty good shape.  Maybe not "like new" shape, but the braid and the ends were in tact with just a couple of individual strands freyed.  Is that enough to kill a good ground?

If not done already, remove that engine grounding strap and "renew" the metal-to-metal contact faces at both ends.  Significant corrosion between the metal contact faces will greatly restrict the flow of Lucas smoke.  See forum member Dave DuBois's web page for a host of things to do to clean up decades of electrical corrosion issues.  Good info. A few broken strands will not effect the cable's electrical capacity.  Did you try using a jumper cable as a temporary grounding strap between the block and chassis?

Thanks Dick.  I did already remove the strap and clean it and the connection points very well.  It didn't help.  I don't like randomly replacing parts, but I ordered a new solenoid (remote switch) because even with all clean cable  connections the connections at the switch were hot after cranking.  Its just a guess but at $23 its a reasonable experiment.  

Thanks for your help.

---

=====================
Austin Healey 3000 MkIII ph2, 1965
MG TC, 1949
Corvette, 1966

Hopefully, you have already solved this issue but I have just joined and being a Healey 100 owner for 30 years have experienced most of what can be encountered.

I have a BN1 that also had slow cranking problems and heating of the solenoid.  The cable from the battery to the solenoid is quite long on these cars and if there is any break down in the cable (including any breaks in the insulation) or if it has been replaced with a cable that is too small in diameter to carry the current that the starter motor requires everything heats up and there is not enough current to turn the starter motor and engine over.

To check for this, disconnect the cable from the battery, using a set of heavy gauge booster cables and another battery, attach the ground (positive if it is still wired this way) to the engine block and the other end to the solenoid.  Manually engage the solenoid (with the car out of gear and the parking brake on) if the starter kicks in at the correct speed then the problem is with the cable from the battery to the solenoid. Replace it with a good quality heavy gauge cable.  Note that at the best of times these engines do not crank over at a very high rate.

Good luck.

Glen