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Won't start and I'm 225 miles from home...

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wlivesey

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My BT7 may not look great but it has always run great. So naturally, I was not worried about driving up to the British Invasion in Stowe, VT. Yeah there are the effects of the hurricane in the area, but Weather.com says Stowe will be "partly cloudy" by 9AM. We drove from RI to White River Junction VT in the pouring rain (3 plus hours). We thought we had enough towels to sop up all the leaks - but that's another story. Let me get to the point...
At every pit stop on the way up to Stowe, the car starts with no problem. Then when we finally get to Stowe (by now it's not raining)the car won't even crank, or if it does it is extremely slow and short. So I get "ole Ben" (my son) to get out and push me - car starts immediately every time. Don't you just love it - damp musty smell, windows are constantly fogged, wipers are horrible, won't start, getting cold this time of year in VT. This kid drives a 2000 Mustang GT; I couldn't help but think this is the perfect Healy experience for the young whipper snapper! Anyway, I digress, this starting problem goes on till the next day (nice clear day), all the way home - the only way it will start is with a push - and it starts immediately every time. When I get home, I put the battery on a charger and it turns out the battery has a full charge. All the connections to the battery & starter are clean and tight. Anybody have any ideas on what the issue might be? Time for a starter rebuild? Battery is relatively new. Any suggestions/insight would be appreciated.
Bill
Another memorable Healy adventure...
 
Bill: I think the most likely culprits are (1) faulty starter that is running slowly, (2) bad primary wire between the battery and the starter, (3) bad ground at the battery, (4) poor connectors at any of these points. Of course, there could be multiple problems involving combinations of the above. I would start with the ground connection(s) as these would be the easiest to correct, then the starter, then the primary wire. AL Bradley
 
Bill

Have you tried manually activating the starter solenoid assuming push button type installed.---Keoke
 
Hi Bill,
I had a situation where the starter solenoid contacts themselves were degenerating. Lot of intermittant slow cranking until finally nothing. If you are adventurous, you can take the solenoid apart & turn the two main contact posts to a fresh orientation & reverse the contact disc to get a fresh surface. If not, a new solenoid may help. You can diagnose this by applying a heavy jumper (screwdriver works well) across the two main solenoid terminals to bypass the contacts.
D
 
Bill--

If jumping across the solenoid doesn't get it I'd start at the back and move forward--check the ground to the chassis, then connections at the always-suspect shut-off switch and the switch itself, then the quality of the battery leads and the terminal connectors, and lastly the starter. For whatever reason I have always found more corrosion to accumulate on negative terminals--maybe that has something to do with electron flow or the Coriolus Effect.
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/savewave.gif 'Coriolis Effect"

Michael, I don't recall Bill saying he rolled the car!---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Coriolus Effect - what the heck does that mean - sounds like the name of one of those spy movies from the 70's - Thomas Crown affair.
Any way, here's the update - I've cleaned all connections and bridged the solenoid with some pliars. No change - very slow & sluggish, then stops. Battery is OK & if I let it roll down the driveway, pop the clutch, it will start right up. Think its the starter??
Bill
 
Bill,
It's not unheard of for the starter to develop an internal ground in a winding. The symptoms are that the starter draws an unusually large amount of current, way more than the battery & cables can supply. Cranking is very slow or non-existant. A lot of auto supply shops & starter rebuild shops have a complimentary testing plan so that you can take the starter in & they will test it. I would suggest this as your next move.
D
 
Yep Bill: /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/iagree.gif Sounds like the starter to me too. Could be just bad brushes hope so.---Keoke---OH! I forgot, about that "Coriolis" thingy it won't hurt Healeys and it isn't contageous.Your closest contact with it will probably be next time you take a shower. Just watch which way the water swirls going down the drain thats the thingy.- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Just watch which way the water swirls going down the drain thats the thingy.- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
I actually have mental control of which way the water swirls, it's all in your head.
D
 
[ QUOTE ]
Coriolus Effect - what the heck does that mean - sounds like the name of one of those spy movies from the 70's - Thomas Crown affair.
Any way, here's the update - I've cleaned all connections and bridged the solenoid with some pliars. No change - very slow & sluggish, then stops. Battery is OK & if I let it roll down the driveway, pop the clutch, it will start right up. Think its the starter??
Bill

[/ QUOTE ]

Bill--

In the world of Austin-Healeys anything is possible. I recently had a problem with the starter on my wife's 3000 and it turned out that the ring gear on the flywheel had worked slightly forward and was causing the starter to bind so that it turned over very slowly. I drove the gear back and had it tack-welded in four or five spots and all is well now.

The Coriolus Effect is produced by Earth's rotation and causes hurricanes to spin and toilets to flush in a counterclockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and vica versa in the Southern. When one is on the equator everything goes straight down....
 
Just wanterd to close out this issue. I took the starter to a shop. They bench tested it - it spun, but they said it had some "drag". They offered to recondition it for $80. So I had it done, put it back in the car and wo-la it worked! In fact I never heard it crank so strong. So I'm back on the road. Thanks everybody for the help.
 
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