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middleagecrazy

middleagecrazy

Senior Member
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Hello All
Most of my post are done on the Spridget forum. But now I have a Triumph issue. It is a 76 spitfire 1500. Runs great but when it gets hot the starter will drag. To the point that it will not start. It has had two starters in the last two months. We thought that the first replacement was defective but we got the second replacement and it started doing the same thing within three weeks. In the mean time the battery was replaced with a new higher cranking amp. It did not help. You can let the car cool off for about thirty minutes and the starter will fire the engine up before it turns over three times. Heres where I need an opinion. Back about fourty years ago a friend had a car with a big block in it that was going through starters about every three weeks. A man told my friend that for five bucks he would tell him how to fix it. The friend gave the five bucks and the man told him to go to the parts house and get a stranded wire ground strap and bolt it to the frame and to the bell housing. It did take care of the problem. Has anyone out there see this issue with the Spitfires?

Thanks
Anthony
 
All TR6's have braided wire ground straps. I never hear much about this type of starter problem.

tricarbconv 008 (Custom).jpg
 
Extra ground wires never hurt. It would be wise to check the other engine ground. I know on TRs its a braided wire that jumps over the drivers side motor mount from block to frame. If that's getting weak, that could be the problem.
Another cheap fix would be to fabricate and install a tin heat shield to shroud the starter from any excess heat.
Other things to check are battery connections, starter wire connections, and the starter solonoid. any corossion dirt or loosness there could be the problem.
See if a shop can perform a starter draw test for you. I high draw could indicate a problem with bad connections.
 
A very common problem in wet, dark, countries like Germany. The ground wire corrodes and produce a lot of trouble beginning with the startermotor and ending with ignition trouble....

Best to replace that wire every 10 years with a new one.

Cheers
Chris
 
New Ground wire, very good idea, You already did that. Heat shield, another good idea. Are you running headers on this car or stock exhaust. I know with my old v8 chevys, if I installed headers, it heated the starters up to the point that they would not turn the car over until they cooled off. I used insulated starter wrap or a starter shield and that did the trick. Never had a problem again. Check and see how close the headers or to the starter and insulate the starter from the heat and I think your problems might be solved.
 
Bad ground....clean EVERYTHING...replace the ground cable NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT LOOKS! Add an extra ground between the engine and frame.
 
I owned a 65 MkII it had a braided ground strap, never had a problem with the starter. A good ground is always a good place to start.

Cheers

Rob
 
bluemiata90 said:
Check and see how close the headers or to the starter and insulate the starter from the heat and I think your problems might be solved.
Click to expand...

The starter and the exhaust are on opposite sides of the engine in a Spit 1500. Probably not heat related.
 
I agree with the others, My 6's ground wire is from the battery negative with first connection to bellhousing bolt, then to chassis. Make sure you've got a good ground. It's easy enough to fabricate one up. Engine to chassis is best.

Symptom you describe is classical when electrical components heat up, resistance goes up, harder for the amperage to travel over increased resistance, when things cool down, resistance goes down, works fine.
 
Why in the world do they use open braided ground wires? The exposed wire is free to corrode! I use insulated wire the same size as the red. I also use waterproof heat shrink to seal the ends of the wire. I guess the car manufacturers can save a doller.
 
Just a foolish question, but have you checked the timing? If the timing is advanced too far, the engine, when hot, will work against itself and drag in just this matter. Just trying to think of all scenarios.
Dave
 
Checked the Timing, Fabricated an additional Ground bell housing to frame, Cleaned the connections at bell housing and all other battery connections. Took the spot on the frame to clean bare metal. Used hard copper lugs on the additional ground wire. No headers and Scot is correct the starter is on the opposite side from the exhaust. It started fine today but I may have been in the store long enough for it to have cooled. I keep everyone posted.

Anthony
 
Jon80spit said:
Why in the world do they use open braided ground wires? The exposed wire is free to corrode! I use insulated wire the same size as the red. I also use waterproof heat shrink to seal the ends of the wire. I guess the car manufacturers can save a doller.
Click to expand...


I have never seen the big braided ground wire off my battery negative post corrode. It's very flexible and very easy to clamp an alligator clip onto when using a test-anything instrument. Plus, it never needs replacement, one of the few items on my car that doesn't.
 
Hi There;

By the time you read this; I`m hoping your Problem has been solved? I simply agree with the Majority here: To me It seems like You need to Wrap that [censored] Starter with some Insulating, Heat Resistant Mat`l of some sort!

Good Luck cause this sounds like it could be a Real Pain in the B___tt!

Regards,

Russ
 
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