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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Hi Torque starter ....anyone using ?

Not sure how many times i have changed starters over the many years of ownership, but long enough to know that they used to be �18 exchange !!
Does anyone use a high Torque unit and have anything to say on it.
I use my car every now and again, and it generally starts OK, although i suspect occasional use doesn't do me any favours, and so i like the idea of a better unit.
Whilst writing, i notice from removing my old unit, that it has 9 teeth, and i was told recently that 1275 Mk 3 midgets were 10 teeth, minis were nine. As i have a mini too, i just happen to check. This news made me check the ring gear which looks fine, but i throw it out there for comment.
P Bentley

I had an issue with one of my Midgets, where the starter wouldn't turn the engine over when it was hot, although there wasn't an issue when it was cold. It had a 10-tooth pinion.

I swapped it for a starter with a 9-tooth pinion and the problem went away.

Whether the problem was due to the number of teeth, or if the first starter had a heat-soak issue, I can't say.
Dave O'Neill 2

I have a hi-torque on my 1275, a lot of money but entirely different to the old starters. My old starter would sometimes go kerchung, miss, no start, and that would be during times of frequent use of the car too.

The ring gear on mine has a few chewed teeth but I never notice this with the hi-torque starter.

If you can afford it then get one. There are plenty of posts in the Archives with the pros and cons.

For starting with any starter best to have a good quality battery in good condition and charge and all leads and earths clean, secure and protected.
Nigel Atkins

My ex race track car had a modern starter fitted when I bought it. The bendix parted company with the shaft and made a nice big hole in the bellhousing.

When the replacement g/box was fitted I used a normal starter as a preparer of race cars advised they can be unreliable and he now treats the starter as an annual replacement and has had no problems. I sourced a Bosch [India] version as I thought it should be more reliable than a Joe Bloggs version.


Doug Plumb

I've been having my fair share of starter problems recently, including a deconstructed slotted washer from within the pinion causing jamming .... the original starter on my '66 GAN4 has 9 teeth, and all other motors I have seen do too. If the pinion has 10 I presume its radius must be slightly larger to accommodate the extra tooth to maintain spacing to engage with the ring gear
Dave
David Cox

I've used high-torque starters for many years (at least 15 years) on my Sprite and am on the second one. I would never willingly go back to a standard starter motor. Eventually I also got used to the yamasaki sound it made.
Daniel

Unless I've read Doug's post wrong, you wouldn't want to change the starter motor on a road car every year, apart from the expense it's another PITA job, more awkward than it should be though not difficult.

I'm with Daniel I'd not got back to the standard starter.
Nigel Atkins

thanks for the pointers gents
P Bentley

Have a std starter on my 1380 with a 12:1 CR and not an overly big overlap cam.
No problems starting and when it did fail it is a 20min job to replace.
I�d spend my money on other parts.
O K

This thread was discussed between 08/05/2018 and 10/05/2018

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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