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MG MGA - Argh! No Start Hell!

Hi All,

I was driving home the other night and had to stop for groceries. Get back in the MGA and it will not start. It turned over once very slowly then nothing when I pulled the starter.

Lift the hood, (I'm wearing a business suit) peer at the solenoid, look at the starter… Push the solenoid, nothing, fiddle with the engaging end of the starter shaft, press the solenoid again, it slowly turns again then it sparks into life! I drove home thinking, well the easiest thing would be the battery and it is a little old so let’s put a new one in.

New battery in, pull the starter… very slowly turns then gets quicker and bingo. Shut off the engine try again, turns fast no problem. I do this twice more and go to bed happy.

Don’t drive the car for a few days then get in this morning for an early drive to work… pull the starter, very slowly, then nothing… except a slight burning smell!

Now, I don’t think the smell came from the starter motor but then again I’m not sure where it came from. I’m thinking it can only be: Battery (changed), solenoid (I can manually operate), starter motor (maybe), short in the battery cable (surely that would always be shorting and there would always be a burning smell…

I have just placed an order with Moss (supercharger yay!) so if I need a starter I would like to order it now and get it shipped together, how would you go about trouble shooting this problem?

Roy.
R. Maher

Roy--There are several possibilities, but I would start with the terminal connections to the battery, the battery ground, the starter switch, the starter and the ground strap on the engine..If all that checked out I would run a jumper from the battery cable to the starter and see if it is still weak-(that checks your starter switch )
Keep us posted on what you find.
/ gil
gil

Gil is correct, a check (and cleaning) of all the battery connections, the ground, both at the battery and at teh engine is in order. As you clean each connection, coat it well with a conductive grease product such as Kopr-Shield (see my ground point preparation article at: http://www.omgtr.ca/technical/General%20Technical/grounding.htm)
Look closely at each end of each of the large battery cables and the solenoid to starter cables, they have a nasty habit of developing corrosion back under the insulation at the ends that will cause high resistance and low starting current. Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

Check any crimped connection on the battery cables or ground straps. If it is turning slowly stop and feel all the components/connections in the starting circuit, if you find a warm spot it should be your problem, if it smelled, something is getting very warm. You may want to drop the starter and clean the maiting surface between the starter and the rear engine plate, over time these surfaces rust and result in a bad ground for the starter motor.
John H

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/ss_101.htm

As usual, let me know if I missed anything, so I can add it or fix it.
Barney Gaylord

Thank you everyone, I think I am going to nip home early and work through this issue, we only have a few more nice days here in Ontario and I don't want to miss another one!

Thanks again.

Roy.
R. Maher

UPDATE - Thank you!

Well, I started at the battery; the contacts were not in the best of shape so I cleaned them up nicely, problem still there.

Then I metered the solenoid end of the hot cable and ground, no problem there.
Next was to go on the starter side of the solenoid and ground while manually activating the solenoid, big drop in voltage... I was just about to undo and clean the cable terminals either side when my hand brushed the throttle cable, it was hot! Bingo! I have a bad ground! Of course the throttle cable contacts well between both the engine and the body so it was in effect acting as a heating element!

Now, when I bought the car I didn't have a garage so I had a local Brit car restorer tidy it up with an engine out and panel off respray. Unfortunately it was a naff job and I am now finding loads of stuff that is wrong along with the realization I will be starting from scratch again with a body off job some time in the next couple of years. Anyway, I digress; the ground cable was horrible as was the connection to the frame. Took it off, cleaned it up and Varoom!

Isn't it a great feeling when you find and fix something!

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.

Roy.
R. Maher

>> Isn't it a great feeling when you find and fix something!

Yep! Gives you that "I'm so goooood" kind of feeling.
Andy Bounsall

Nothing beats success, congratulation on the find Roy and thanks for letting us know what the outcome was. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

This thread was discussed between 27/09/2005 and 29/09/2005

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