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MG MGB Technical - Starter clicks. Doesn't start

Took my 74.5 GT for a fast prolonged ride. Went well, however once home It wont start. Starter clicks as if stuck. Worked really well before hand. Any ideas? I noticed fan belt was loose and tightened it now after the drive. Jump start still didn't work. Help!

JOHN
JW Colson

John. Check the voltage at the battery terminals--should be 12.5V. Check the battery voltage as you are trying to start--should be at least 11.0-11.5V. If not, charge the battery. If the voltage at the battery terminals is good, check the voltage at the battery clamps both ignition off and ignition switch in the start position. If the voltage at the clamps is lower than the voltage at the terminals, remove the clamps and clean them and the terminals, then, try again.

If everything is good at the battery end, hook a jumper wire to the main terminal of the starter and run it into the passanger compartment. Hook up your volt meter to the jumper wire and a ground. You should see 12.5V or what your battery was showing. Turn the ignition switch to the start position and read the voltage. If it drops down below 11.0V, check out the connection. If the connection is good, you have an internal fault in the cable.

If all of the voltage checks are good, remove the starter and have it checked under load.

Les
Les Bengtson

John
let your wife start the car, after the click give the startermotor a hard tic with a hammer. If its starts then the startermotor is sceaming for new brushes.
wim

John,
if there is no corrosion on the terminals it might be a failiure of the internal points of the solenoid.
Had this problem last year on my 1975 roadster too.
I took off the starter from the car and removed the solenoyd. After unwelding the wires at the terminals, the solenoid could be opened and the large internal points, that were corroded badly, be cleand with a dremel.
The Starter works fine since this little service had been done.
Time you need is +/- one hour for the whole job.
May be this helps to cure your starter too.

Ralph
Ralph

JW-
The "click" is your solenoid engaging. The silence that follows is your starter motor refusing to spin. For diagnosis, follow Les' above advice. Follow Wim's advice only if you trust your wife to keep the car in neutral.
Steve S.

John, its highly possible that you simply have a loose wire on the starter relay. Its near the fuse box and the wires hang down just waiting to fall. Another possible culprit could be the ignition switch itself. These fail fast when you have a lot of keys on your keychain.

Ronald
Ronald

Is it the click of the starter relay you are hearing? Or the clunk of the solenoid? If the former then it could be relay contacts, connections down to the solenoid, or solenoid winding connections. If the latter then it could be solenoid contacts or starter brushes/comm, a voltmeter on the output of the solenoid will tell you which.
Paul Hunt 2

This thread was discussed between 12/06/2006 and 16/06/2006

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