BN4 Hesitates on Starting

Can anyone assist with a starting issue I have with my BN4?

I have noticed, particularly on cold starts, that the starter turns the motor over very slowly for the first couple of tries, before the starter appears to speed up significantly to a more normal turn over speed. The problem does not seem to affect the actual starting of the car, however, the suspicion is there that one day it will not start.

The car has the original starter motor fitted as far as I can tell. Battery checks out OK as well, fully charged and only a couple of years old.

Thanks in anticipation.

60 years on, it's tired.

Check out the Healey Factory in Melbourne. Maybe they can rebuild your starter or recommend a supplier.

https://healeyfactory.com.au/contact/

Since it's the middle of winter in your half of the world, how cold is cold? Batteries lose their "punch" when really cold and will get better after warming up due to starter current flow.

Thanks guys,

I can readily get a replacement high torque stater motor, but I am just trying to determine if the starter motor is likely to be the problem or perhaps the symptoms are suggesting some other issue? - I am reluctant to replace something unless I know what the problem is.

Whilst the replacement procedure seems simple enough, as with most things AH, getting the old one out and the new one in is bound to be far more complicated than it has any right to be!

When I referred to cold starts I meant when the motor was cold from not being started for a couple of weeks - I don't think the weather is a significant issue as the starting hesitation has occurred for some time, and even cold weather here is usually no lower than 5 degrees Celcius.

Aw now Paul

You are giving the Healey a bad name, it really is not difficult getting a starter motor out, you may have to take the gear box tunnel out to get at the top bolt, I really can't remember, if it needs to be done I get on and do it.

You could check the draw down on the battery, I believe that although the battery is fully charged any significant load can produce such symptoms if the O/A condition of the battery is not 100%, can't get my head round the fact that it does speed up later, but that might be something to do with the oil circulating and lubricating all the surfaces.



Bob

If you want to avoid needlessly pulling out your 60 year old starter for checking on a bench you might first go over your battery and starter leads, especially the grounds, to make sure everything is free of corrosion, etc. If no luck then you are either going to have to tolerate the situation (perhaps getting a bottle of starting ether to help things along) or bite the bullet and pull out the starter for testing. Also, how old is that battery?

Are you using the turn-off/on switch in the boot? If so, you might try connecting the battery directly to a good ground to see if that helps.

Thanks all for a myriad of suggestions,

I will do some checks on wiring, connections etc. over the weekend and see what that turns up. I have also uncovered some Lucas starter motor service information so I will see what that has to offer as well.

Has anyone tried to service the Lucas unit - it appears that brushes are available so that could possibly be worth checking?

In terms of the battery, it is less than 3 years old, and was subject to a full charge and recondition a couple of weeks ago, it is possibly an issue but I will check the wiring and connections first. I could then swap out the battery and see if that makes a difference.

I will post another reply if my quest is unsuccessful!

There are YouTube videos on rebuilding Starter/Generators which evidently are common on lawnmowers and tractors:
https://youtu.be/MqJuHr2je_I

In that one, they didn't do anything to the armature, but did clean and repack the bearings, which were full of old waxy grease - that could account for your slowness then faster when warming up. It all looks pretty easy.

Paul - please post a reply with the results when you get the problem solved - for the archives.

If it's anything like the starter in my 5/58 build BN6, then the field windings (bolted to the case) are internally shorting, and reducing the starter's power output.

Cleaning all the grounds is ALWAYS a good idea, but my money says it's the starter motor.

A word of caution though, as many of us have experienced, after putting in the new starter, the engine fires up so fast that it scares you! See a current thread on the subject...

I replaced the brushes when I had a slow starter problem back in 1981. Starter has been working great for 37 years (less than 10,000 miles, however).

What viscosity oil are you running? Cold 50 weight is like molasses.

Took the car out for a run today and it started without a problem just to be peverse - notwithstanding it was around 5 degrees (Celcius) first thing.

Completed Part A of the starter investigation and have checked and cleaned all the positive connection terminals to bare metal from the battery through to the starter motor and for the negative return via the motor earth strap back to the battery. I will try and complete a couple of cold starts over the next few days and see if there is a noticeable difference.