MGB GT starting problems
Discussion
Well its back to life!
Thanks for all your help guys, I should have made it clear that the first thing I'd done was clear up and copper-ease the earth to the battery and it's connection to the bodywork.
Anyway, cleaning up the front earth cable and putting copper grease on it seems to have done the trick (trying to rig up an earth with a jump lead hadn't really worked), I also had a little look at the coil and it did seem a bit loose but I don't think that was the root cause of the trouble.
It was a bit easier to get the front earth strap off than I was expecting (once I'd removed the air filter/intakes). The nut holding it onto the engine mount on the engine side was surprisingly loose and the strap connections had certainly suffered some corrosion. I cleaned it up with a wire brush attachment on a dremel and copper eased it at both ends and did the bolts up tight and it seems to have done the trick, started without and great difficulty at all.
The before and after photos of the front earth strap are below;
Anyway thanks for all your help guys, hopefully I'll have at least a few weeks of trouble free motoring, but I'm sure I'll be back for some more advice before too long.
Thanks for all your help guys, I should have made it clear that the first thing I'd done was clear up and copper-ease the earth to the battery and it's connection to the bodywork.
Anyway, cleaning up the front earth cable and putting copper grease on it seems to have done the trick (trying to rig up an earth with a jump lead hadn't really worked), I also had a little look at the coil and it did seem a bit loose but I don't think that was the root cause of the trouble.
It was a bit easier to get the front earth strap off than I was expecting (once I'd removed the air filter/intakes). The nut holding it onto the engine mount on the engine side was surprisingly loose and the strap connections had certainly suffered some corrosion. I cleaned it up with a wire brush attachment on a dremel and copper eased it at both ends and did the bolts up tight and it seems to have done the trick, started without and great difficulty at all.
The before and after photos of the front earth strap are below;
Anyway thanks for all your help guys, hopefully I'll have at least a few weeks of trouble free motoring, but I'm sure I'll be back for some more advice before too long.
Magog that earth cable is ferked
Hanging on by a whisker, looking at the frayed state of it. All of the thickness of a cable is needed to transmit the full battery power through the circuit
There is a certain amount of "oversize" calculated in, in the design stage of course but yours must be considered marginal. At or passing it's sell by date
A new cable to do the job should be easily sourced and will cut down the risks of repetition in future. It wont hurt if you ditch braided and pick up a suitably thick copper earth cable that's plastic covered. The thickness is what does the job, effectively.
I'm glad you did get it sorted though, these starting problems can "do yer 'ead in!"
edit for dumb stoopid spollin mastookes
Hanging on by a whisker, looking at the frayed state of it. All of the thickness of a cable is needed to transmit the full battery power through the circuit
There is a certain amount of "oversize" calculated in, in the design stage of course but yours must be considered marginal. At or passing it's sell by date
A new cable to do the job should be easily sourced and will cut down the risks of repetition in future. It wont hurt if you ditch braided and pick up a suitably thick copper earth cable that's plastic covered. The thickness is what does the job, effectively.
I'm glad you did get it sorted though, these starting problems can "do yer 'ead in!"
edit for dumb stoopid spollin mastookes
Edited by perdu on Thursday 21st October 20:33
Well done, now make sure your battery is fully recharged by going on a good long run as soon as possible down some enjoyable B roads
You now know or have been reminded about the importance of having a good clean power supply for starting the car and how have good clean earthing to items can resolve them from not working (e.g. lights)
Clean and make secure - solves a surprising number of problems and faults on an old car
I'm not sure if that earth strap is in the correct position (others would know) but to me you've not got enough thread one side at least to get a split or shakeproof washer on to make sure the connection remains secure even if you could use a half sized nut - so I'd fit new longer screws with washers and . . .
Also where there is so little movement between the fixing points you don't need the braded fleible type of strap (that so readliy picks up oil and road grime) you could use the twisted wire with plastic insulating cable type which wouldn't soak up the muck (the later cable type I think is normally supplied)
Coil lead appearing to be connect with the overtight cap cover causing and hiding the fact it isn't fully connected has happen to me twice on my current Midget so one for the memory bank
Whilst I was editing Perdu has more forcibly confirmed what I've put
ETA: just noticed Perdu was 20 mins ahead of me yet I didn't see his post when I started mine - either my computer is running even slower than me or I totally missed seeing his post last time (quite possible)
You now know or have been reminded about the importance of having a good clean power supply for starting the car and how have good clean earthing to items can resolve them from not working (e.g. lights)
Clean and make secure - solves a surprising number of problems and faults on an old car
I'm not sure if that earth strap is in the correct position (others would know) but to me you've not got enough thread one side at least to get a split or shakeproof washer on to make sure the connection remains secure even if you could use a half sized nut - so I'd fit new longer screws with washers and . . .
Also where there is so little movement between the fixing points you don't need the braded fleible type of strap (that so readliy picks up oil and road grime) you could use the twisted wire with plastic insulating cable type which wouldn't soak up the muck (the later cable type I think is normally supplied)
Coil lead appearing to be connect with the overtight cap cover causing and hiding the fact it isn't fully connected has happen to me twice on my current Midget so one for the memory bank
Whilst I was editing Perdu has more forcibly
confirmed what I've put Edited by SB - Nigel on Thursday 21st October 20:57
ETA: just noticed Perdu was 20 mins ahead of me yet I didn't see his post when I started mine - either my computer is running even slower than me or I totally missed seeing his post last time (quite possible)
Edited by SB - Nigel on Thursday 21st October 21:01
Just put this story on another forum where a Spridget owner is having starting problems so I'll share here too
When they first came out my mate had a V8 Disco about 18 months old wouldn't start all seemed OK we even checked the battery leads for tightness but couldn't get it going so he called the AA and I left
I found out later that the AA guy solved the problem by taking the battery connections off and cleaning them and the terminals my mate said the AA guy had shown him some crud on the battery terminal that you couldn't see until you took them off and this was enough to stop the car firing up
So that's one mistake I did learn from (pity about the rest)
When they first came out my mate had a V8 Disco about 18 months old wouldn't start all seemed OK we even checked the battery leads for tightness but couldn't get it going so he called the AA and I left
I found out later that the AA guy solved the problem by taking the battery connections off and cleaning them and the terminals my mate said the AA guy had shown him some crud on the battery terminal that you couldn't see until you took them off and this was enough to stop the car firing up
So that's one mistake I did learn from (pity about the rest)
Edited by SB - Nigel on Thursday 21st October 21:11
SB - Nigel said:
Well done, now make sure your battery is fully recharged by going on a good long run as soon as possible down some enjoyable B roads
That'll certainly be my plan for the weekend I think.perdu said:
Magog that earth cable is ferked
I'm glad you did get it sorted though, these starting problems can "do yer 'ead in!"
I'm not sure that the earth cables quite as bad as it looks in the photos, I had a pretty close look at it and I'd say it's probably still 90-95% unbroken, I think the main cause of wear is the rubbing against the engine mount, but I'll certainly try and pick up a new one in the next week or so.I'm glad you did get it sorted though, these starting problems can "do yer 'ead in!"
I have to say it's been doing my head in for a month or so, but I'm quite glad of the opportunity it's given me to reacquaint myself with generally working on the car and being around it. It's certainly left me with a long list of other things to do having spent so much time examining it closely.
Hopefully I'll manage to lavish a bit of TLC on it over the next few months than I have been doing recently, and generally smarten it up a bit. Thanks once again for all your input guys.
Not sure?
OK no problem
but
I worked for nigh on thirty years as an AA patrol
and problems like yours that I cured were ten a penny
I know it is an easy thing to say but honestly, for about a fiver in your local car spares shop you could near enough guarantee the car's earth system for the next "however old she is" part of the cars life.
I saw dozens of similar faults with braided earth straps, they used them 'cos they were cheap to produce not 'cos they were superior.
Anyway, enjoy the car I love my Midget to pieces
MGs rock
edit again (bad night) for spelling, can't keep blaming the crappy two quid keyboard can I?
OK no problem
but
I worked for nigh on thirty years as an AA patrol
and problems like yours that I cured were ten a penny
I know it is an easy thing to say but honestly, for about a fiver in your local car spares shop you could near enough guarantee the car's earth system for the next "however old she is" part of the cars life.
I saw dozens of similar faults with braided earth straps, they used them 'cos they were cheap to produce not 'cos they were superior.
Anyway, enjoy the car I love my Midget to pieces
MGs rock
edit again (bad night) for spelling, can't keep blaming the crappy two quid keyboard can I?
Edited by perdu on Friday 22 October 00:04
Just a quickie on my starter problem.
I have a 1976 MGB. Tried to start it after a couple of months of non use. Just heard a 'click' when turning the key, but no lights dimming. Charged battery anyway, but still the same issue.
Looked at the oxidised starter relay next to the fuse box. After cleaning the outside saw the letters '6RA'. Disconnected the 4 wires. Used pliers to straighten the sides of the cover that had been peened over in 4 places. Took out relay and cleaned the oxidised points with emery cloth.
Checked the relay for closing using a 12v charger to power the magnetic coil, then a multimeter to check for continuity across the closed points. Working fine.
Re connected and she fired up first time
I have a 1976 MGB. Tried to start it after a couple of months of non use. Just heard a 'click' when turning the key, but no lights dimming. Charged battery anyway, but still the same issue.
Looked at the oxidised starter relay next to the fuse box. After cleaning the outside saw the letters '6RA'. Disconnected the 4 wires. Used pliers to straighten the sides of the cover that had been peened over in 4 places. Took out relay and cleaned the oxidised points with emery cloth.
Checked the relay for closing using a 12v charger to power the magnetic coil, then a multimeter to check for continuity across the closed points. Working fine.
Re connected and she fired up first time
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