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starter clicks

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Trevor Triumph

Jedi Knight
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A beautiful day for drive. Both Hiram, the taxi, and Monty the TR6, have starting issues. Both cars, there is only a cilck- as if the battery is dead. The charger meter indicates that there is a charge in the taxi batteries one might think so they are just a few months old. I tried using the battery from Trevor the Spitfire, as a jump for the taxi and a replacement for the TR6 battery, and the response from the both cars remains the same- click, but no engine turning. Do I need to crawl under and pull off the starters?
 
Check your battery terminals first. Make sure they are clean and tight. Same thing on the ground lead/strap and the lead to the starter solenoid. Clean both and make sure they are tight.

It doesn't take much corrosion to increase the resistance a huge amount.

Are you working with a known healthy battery? I've given up on lead acid wet cells for my LBCs and gone to the AGM/Optima style.

The charger might indicate a draw, but the battery may not hold the charge, especially if not a frequent driver.
 
I would charge the batteries first, and try that.
 
Skip the charger; try and jump it using a *running* vehicle with a known good battery and alt. If it clicks your issue is not the battery, it is either wiring or solenoid. If it starts, then try and charge the battery.

Starters rarely fail, 9 times out of 10, the issue is corrosion/high resistance.
 
Measure the voltage at the battery after a starting attempt. If those thing went really flat (<10 V) they may be toast... a battery doesn't come back from the dead more than once or twice if that.

Since the batteries are fairly new the seller may be able to help you out on a replacement... they usually honor the warranty even if you have been unkind to the battery.
 
It only takes a tenth of an ohm or so of extra resistance to drop the voltage enough to prevent starting. That's not much, and it can be caused by the slightest corrosion or loose connection. This is a good place for me to recommend stopping by Harbor Freight and buying one of their sub-$10 multimeters. Just click the key to "start," then start at the starter terminal, measuring the voltage, and work back up connection by connection to see where you're losing the voltage.

This all assumes that the battery is OK. If it happens that the battery voltage, measured at the posts, not the clamp, is low, then the battery has had it.
 
I have had this happen in the past on a non - LBC. Put the car into gear, SHUT OFF THE IGNITION, rock the car against the transmission and retry. You may find that it will start
"Some times you just hit a dead spot"
Not a bad quote for future use
 
Thanks for your help. I cleaned the connections at the solenoid and starter, then relpaced the lead from the battery to the solenoid. The taxi starts and runs. I guess I'll do the same with the TR6 soon. It is getting warm here the Valley of the Sun, time to get the topless cars going. Thanks again. T.T.
 
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