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Bradster

Freshman Member
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Hi All,

After 17 years I finally have my Healey back up and running. It's a 67 with 27,500 original miles that has passed to me from my brother who bought it in 1972, through my brother-in-law and finally to me in 1982. I have been getting it restored since 1987 and I got it back last October. I have a few questions. Please excuse my ignorance as I have been out of this for a long time...

I bought a remote starter button and I can get the solenoid to spin but not the starter. Where should I be hooking up? I need to set the valve lash.

I also need to get the generator working. I realize that is a bit of a longer answer, but I will take whatever wisdom you all can provide.

My tach is way off. It reads very high relative to what the engine is revving.

My speedometer does not work.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Brad
 
Hi Brad, welcome to a great forum,
Let's start with the starter - HA.
The starter relies on the inertia (resistance to rotation) of the pinion gear to move it endwise on a shaft spiral so that it engages the ring gear. If the battery is really weak there may not be enough starter acceleration to move the pinion gear. More likely, the pinion & it's spiral shaft are gummed or rusted so that the pinion will not slide into engagement. You can clean these parts without taking the starter apart. I would leave them clean & dry, as oil might gum up again.

A quick check of the generator. Remove & place out of harms way, the two wires on the back of the generator. Connect the two generator terminals together with a jumper & measure between them & ground with a DC voltmeter. start the engine & rev to a fast idle. The voltmeter should read around 20 volts dc if the generator is working. If it is working, check or replace the regulator/control box. If it isn't working take it to a repair shop. Some shops will check the generator for you.

The BJ8 tachs are not noted for being a great design. (my opinion) They rely on the wire that supplies the ignition coil for a signal. (inductively coupled) This insulated wire is looped through a terminal/clamp on the back of the tach. If it is not looped & clamped correctly the tach won't work. If the points or coil are not just so, it won't work correctly. If the electronics inside the tach are bad it won't work correctly. I'll let someone else give you some ideas.

Remove (unscrew) the speedo cable from the back of the speedo. Place the cable end where you can easily see it while driving. If the cable is turning as you drive, there's something wrong with the dash unit. If the cable is not turning replace the cable. If it still doesn't turn, there is something wrong with the cable drive unit on the transmission.
Good luck,
D
 
Dave,

The car starts fine when I turn the key, but not with the remote starter button. I just want to make sure I am hooking up the remote starter button correctly so I can bump the engine.

Thanks,

Brad
 
[ QUOTE ]
Hi All,
I bought a remote starter button and I can get the solenoid to spin but not the starter. Where should I be hooking up? I need to set the valve lash.
Brad

[/ QUOTE ]
Let's try again --
I guess I don't understand. The solenoid is not supposed to "spin". If you connect the remote between the large terminal of the solenoid that connects to the battery & the small terminal on the solenoid, the solenoid should connect the battery to the starter & crank the engine.
D
 
Hi Ron,
There is a remote starting system & then there is a remote starter button. Probably more correctly called a remote cranking button. It isn't intended for starting the car. In this case, the remote is just a pushbutton with a couple of clip wires attached. It is intended to crank the engine over a bit while working under the hood for eg. setting valve lash. Usually the ignition is turned off or disabled to prevent starting. A very handy gadget for turning the engine a bit while working on things under the hood. One of the few ways that one person can run a compression test.
D
 
Hang on there the lot of you. Using a remote starter button to spin the engine via the Solenoid requires that one of the leads from the remote starter unit be attached to the hot side of the battery while the other lead is connected to the contol post on the solenoid. Now if you push the remote starter button you engage the solenoid which causes the starter to spin. At least its suppose to do those things Brad.---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

OH Brad, I forgot to tell you that the big cable on the starter solenoid that does not go to the starter is the hot side of the battery. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Hang on there the lot of you. Using a remote starter button to spin the engine via the Solenoid requires that one of the leads from the remote starter unit be attached to the hot side of the battery while the other lead is connected to the contol post on the solenoid. Now if you push the remote starter button you engage the solenoid which causes the starter to spin. At least its suppose to do those things Brad.---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

OH Brad, I forgot to tell you that the big cable on the starter solenoid that does not go to the starter is the hot side of the battery. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Keoke,
What's up? This is what I said at 8:24 pm --- except I left out to push the button. I guess you are just enhancing it?

"If you connect the remote between the large terminal of the solenoid that connects to the battery & the small terminal on the solenoid, the solenoid should connect the battery to the starter & crank the engine."

Guess it's time for me to take a long break. Have fun.
D
 
Gotta tell the whole story Dave N you didn't tell him which terminal connects to the battery ---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Hi Brad,
I believe you have a switch under your hood already. On ny BJ8 it is located on the bottom side of the solenoid. Attached to the left passenger footwell (left hand drive). This may or may not help you, but some long time owners have not known about this switch.

Happy Healeying
Walter
 
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