Just fixed the starting problem on the old girl which has given me a headache for a few months now.
She has struggled on cold starting and the cranking has been slow to say the least. I thought it could have been a charging problem but the battery never went flat once. Problem I did find out was that if the voltage went too low it would reset the MFA and loose both the clock and fuel economy !! *groans*
Well the car wouldn't start on Weds, so stripped her down this morning. Bottom line was that the starter motor was grubby and the spline coated in dry grease. This I believe was causing the 'dog' to stick and not engage the flywheel. Cleaned and checked the spinout against the engine before refitting. Bloomin' nora, this was a pig to do getting the three bolts aligned but eventually she was bolted home.
Car started but again reluctantly. So I decided to check the earth lead. Cleaned the chassis contact with a wire brush on a drill and sandpaper. Also did the same on the engine but still the same.
Over comes my bruv and he says hang on a mo, give this a go.... Heads into the garage and comes out with a length of 10mm earth mains cable . We attach this from the negative on the battery to the engine and sod me.... VROOM !!!
Kicks over like a rutting sperm whale !!
Well there ya have it.. If you have starting issues check your earth connections and bypass the chassis and link direct to the engine
Enjoy !!
Paul
