Griffith running great again

[Colin RedGriff]

The Griffith has been playing up a little recently. Poor turnover on the starter, especially when hot. It also had a big hiccup whenever the cooling fans kicked in, which was very unsettling when accelerating hard.

Spent some time today checking things over. Checked, cleaned and tightened the earth at the front of the chassis. Earth points on the side of the engine were OK. Removed and cleaned up the starter motor. Slightly better on the starter but not as good as it used to be and the hiccup was still there.

So pulled out the battery and wiring to check everything was tight and clean - nothing obviously wrong. Also lifted the whale tail to get at the earth points on top of the transmission tunnel. These were a little loose so gave them a little squirt of copper ease and tightened them up. Put it all back together and started her up. Much better on the starter and no more hiccups when the fans kicked in at idle. As we needed a few supplies for tea, I took an extended drive out to really put the car through her paces. Great drive round some lovely twisty roads and no issues when the fans kicked in.

Hoping for some good weather over the next few weeks so I can get her out some more now she is back to full health

[Barreti]

It's surprising how sensitive to bad earths our cars are. Not knackered, just not pristine seems to cause real weirdness.

Glad to hear you've sorted it and are out and about Colin.

[ChimpOnGas]

Excellent result and so nice to see a positive post on the forum for change

I couldn't agree more with what Barreti says above, marginal earths can give all sorts of minor issues on our cars.

Also check your HT leads, my car gave an idle drop when the fans cut in, since I found & replaced a leaking Magnecor HT lead the condition vanished.

What replaced it was the smoothest idle I've ever had by a country mile.

My TVR is running great too

No spark plug extenders, mappable wasted spark, MSD coil packs, NGK Iridium plugs, and MSD Super Conductor HT leads make a devastating combination

It also loves to sniff a bit of gas to give me an average of 40mpg just like my wife's Micra in fact, except the TVR is a touch more thrilling

We need more "My car is running really well" posts like this one from Colin

Good work chap

[Barreti]

Just had a thought Colin, have you got thought about putting another earth strap on the engine?
I've got one from one of the water bottle bracket bolts to the remove able cross member.

[davep]

Totally agree with you guys, good clean and tight earths are essential on these cars. I've had new outriggers fitted on my car recently and the difference is quite marked, since the driver's side outrigger has a substantial earthing post on it. So the earth rail is now realised with a substantial chunk of metal rather than floating on rust and fresh air. I've also fitted a new dizzy and that had an earth terminal for the amp on it so I obliged and strapped it across to the injectors earth point.

[Colin RedGriff]

Barreti said:

Just had a thought Colin, have you got thought about putting another earth strap on the engine?
I've got one from one of the water bottle bracket bolts to the remove able cross member.

Hi Ian

Yes I put an extra earth strap from the lower bolt on the starter motor across to the chassis earth behind the wheel. Did it when I pulled in a thicker starter motor cable at the beginning of the year.