TR2/3/3A Strange Loud Noise

Yesterday after fiddling with the carbs I took the car out for a short ride and returned home and shut the car off. I wanted to back it into the garage but it wouldn't start. I drained the battery some so I put it on a battery tender for awhile. Sometime after, I restarted the car but heard a loud noise like the fan blade was hitting something so I shut it down again. When I turned the ignition key without pressing the starter I heard the same loud noise. The motor wasn't running or turning. I have suspicions that it was the solenoid but can't confirm. I started the car and eventually it went away.
Is there a problem hooking up a battery tender to a positive ground vehicle? Red to positive, black to negative. Don't know whether that caused the problem or not but nothing else was done. Car is new to me and I have a lot to learn.

I always put +to + , -to- . Works! May be a short somewhere? Le T.

No problem with a battery charger on a positive ground car as long as you put + positive to positive and – negative to negative--- regardless of the how that looks at the ground. The car is its own unit. It does sound like you solenoid kept the starter running against the ring gear on the flywheel and finally let go. Get a new solenoid and try that.

Remember to keep any metal parts of the charger away from your car. The charger may be negative ground.

So long as you hook up the leads + to + and - to - everything will work.

I've occasionally seen people use the red lead for the ungrounded one, and the black for the grounded one, even when the car is positive ground. Not a good idea, but it's done sometimes. Be sure that you don't have that problem.

Anyway, it sounds like the battery charge may be low or it's defective. A battery tender won't do much to charge a low battery; you need a real charger, one that puts out at least 10 amps. I could guess the source of the sound if it happened when you tried to start it, but I can't think of anything that might do what you describe with just the ignition on. The starter solenoid is powered only when you try to start the car.

What flavor of TR is this?

When you say, "wouldn't start," I assume that means it cranked but didn't fire up. Or, did it just not crank?

I've been having trouble starting the car after I run it for awhile and try to restart it hot. I've pulled the plugs and it's running rich so I've been adjusting the mixture screws. This is after I put new seals in the jets and am trying to tune the carbs according to the manual. I haven't been able to get it to idle at 500 rpm. The car is a '60 TR3A but I'm pretty sure the motor is not the original. The noise started when I finally got the car to start so I shut it down immediately. Then I turned the ignition switch on without pressing the starter button and got the same noise!. I wasn't sure if it came from the control box or solenoid. I tend to agree with sp53 that the problem is the solenoid. When I checked the battery it was still showing 12 volts but the starter wasn't turning over the motor enough.

A 500 rpm idle is pretty low. I'm at 750 or 800, and it seems happier there.

I use a battery tender on my positive ground TR3, and am happy with it. Sometimes I drive the car only once a month, so a battery tender is essential, in my opinion.

I also use a battery disconnect, so only the battery is charged, and the rest of the car is not connected.

Yeah, I agree that a 500 RPM idle is low. I can get the motor to idle at 800RPM but it won't stay there long. It seems to load up and stall. If i can't get it to idle I think a rebuild is in the future.

Get a new solenoid and try that.[/QUOTE]

Well I did that but didn't cure the problem. What confuses me is that the noise (sounds like the fan is hitting something) happens with the motor running or not running (with the switch on and without pressing the starter button). Could it be the starter? But why would that be if the starter button is not pressed. Could the stater pinion not retract. Sometimes the starter seems to be drawing voltage but is not turning over the motor.

Located the noise - heater blower. After thinking it was the starter and replacing the solenoid, I turned off the fan and the noise was gone. Ask me how silly I feel.

Been there...done that! You can often push the offending blade gently upward through the heater doors to bend it away from the housing and get rid of the noise. If the fan has loosened on the shaft, you'll have to separate the housing to re-tighten it, though.

Also a good idea to connect the ground lead from the charger (or jumping battery) to the block rather than the ground post on the battery and make that the last connection so any spark is well away from the battery itself.

One of the head studs/nuts make a good place for that connection.