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mgbnew

mgbnew

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OK now I know what the red light is for. The engine, and something to do with the alternator and such. Well I drove her home from work and put her in the garage. 20 minutes ago I went out to move her back to check the voltage on the regulator, which someone had suggested. All I got was a ticking sound when I went to start it. At first I thought the battery was dead but radio and lights worked fine. When I turn the key all I hear as I said is a click, click .I presume this is the starter. Am I right?? When I get a push she starts OK. HELP!!!!/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif
 
Hi MGBNew, That sounds like a defective starter solenoid. But it can also signal a low battery.---Fwiw---Keoke
 
Could still be the battery/charging system...a starter motor requires a couple of hundred amps, whereas your lights and radio require far, far less.

Check your battery and alternator ASAP - you do NOT want to do what I did and come to a grinding halt at night because there's not enough charge or amperapge to spark the plugs! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
First thing to check is the battery connectors. Make sure there is no corrosion between them and the battery posts. Then move on to testing the battery, and then diagnosing the charging system. A good test for the battery is to simply charge it up (which you have to do anyway). If the charge doesn't hold, the battery is toast.
 
Before you move on to those tests (and before you start arbitrarily replacing parts) test the starter motor in place.

Put the car in neutral. Dig out your jumper cables. Take one cable (red or black... it doesn't mater which) and connect one end to the big cable connection on the starter motor. Make sure it isn't touching anything but the big lug and cable on the starter (no bare metal can be touching chassis ground). Tap the other end of the jumper cable (the same color mind you) to the battery cable going INTO the solenoid. If this makes the starter operate, focus your attention on replacing the solenoid.

In the old days, mechanics would take a pair of pliers and use the handles to "jumper" over the big solenoid contacts to make this test. I never felt comfortable with that and use the jumper cables instead.
 
HI MGBNew, If you want to check the solenoid out you can simply reach around behind it and press the plunger with a finger .Make sure the car is in neutral and the hand brake is set.Don't even have to have the ignition on.If the starter turns it may be the solenoid.---Fwiw--Keoke
 
Thanks I will try that this afternoon
 
Thanks again to all of you. Really appreciate the advice and time taken to discuss the problem
 
Try jump staring it from another battery...if it starts it could either be your battery or alternator...that's what I am betting on and that the starter is fine.

Bruce
 
For what it's worth, I have used the push button solenoids on my LBCs and when the contacts inside fail, the push button in no longer a valid test to see if the problem is in your starter or the solenoid. Once the internal contacts burn they won't conduct.
 
Yep DK, but the solenoid is bad huh??---Keoke
 
The solenoids (particularly the Lucas copies available today) can fail from burned contacts. The copper plates on the moving bit won't conduct once their surfaces are badly burned from arcing. No matter how hard you push on the button they won't work. They can also fail from the solenoid windings burning out... but I've never found one on my cars that stopped working for that reason.

Incidentally... I love the push button solenoids, BUT I've had two of them "weld shut" when I pushed the button. This left the engine cranking and cranking until I could pull the battery cable off. OK... on the second one I got mad and hit it with a hunk of 2x4 to make it stop.
 
Well DK, I fortunately, have not had to experience the vagarities of the aftermarket parts. I am aware that the solenoids can hang up if the car sets up for a while and the little rubber cover is missing. Using the normal start funtion may yield you nothing. However, a litte massaging manually usually wakes them up as well as getting you home. My only purpose for mentioning this button was a lot of car owners do not know its there and the potential problems it can solve. I agree I have never found a defective unit that did not respond to a little Manual massaging or contact cleaning---Keoke

Ill bet on that second one that woke it up!--- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Sadly, the contacts that require cleaning in the push button solenoids are tucked inside the sealed can that is the solenoid housing. There is no method of repairing these contacts without destroying the solenoid. Later (square) solenoids with the bakelite bodies and metal mounting brackets can have their rivets drilled out and replaced with screws. These don't have the push button, but they can be serviced once modified.
Incidentally, I don't believe any of the push button solenoids available in the U.S. (apart from a few NOS examples) are actual Lucas parts. Keep in mind when replacing your original solenoids that the "new" items for sale from the usual sources are not up to Lucas quality.
 
Hi again DK, Maybe I should have used a different word IM talking about cleaning the external terminals on the relay only. The spares I have picked up over the past 15 years or so are NOS parts. OH I just recently picked up a NOS RB 340 regulator off Ebay while an adjacent seller was hawking NOS fakes---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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