I have noticed that one of my Dolomites has not been starting as well as the rest of my fleet so I decided to investigate today. It has never failed to start and the problem may have existed ever since I have had the car, if it had been my only dolomite car I would not have thought there was a problem.
What I found was that the HT coil was not getting the increased voltage from the starter solenoid when the solenoid is engaged and the starter motor is turning the engine over. I have taken a number of starter solenoids apart in the past to clean the contacts and have seen that the supply to the HT coil during starting is a very small contact. When I opened up the solenoid today I found the contact was missing. I assume it has burnt away and hence the problem.
My question to fellow owners is have you ever checked that our HT coil is getting the increased voltage during the start cycle.
An interesting analysis of the solenoid !
As to how well my 1850 starts, Up to 1 day after leaving it idle, it will start first time. After 2 days it will be 1 to 2 goes on the starter and after 3 to 4 days it will be a 3rd time start. I reckon this is due to fuel evaporating from the float chambers. In particular the more volatile fractions of the fuel.
I have an unballasted Lumenition optronic system, with NGK plugs set to 25 thou, standard suppressed plug leads, and I use a Colourtune to set the mixture. I must be doing something wrong
Tony.
My bog standard 1850HL is often left for one or two weeks without starting. It is never hard to start using full choke. Just two or three seconds turning on the starter to prime the carbs and off it goes. The time needed to fill the carbs doesn't seem to vary, whether the car has been left for two days or two weeks.
Mike
(1969 MGB GTV8, 1977 Dolomite 1850HL, 1971 MGB roadster now all three on the road)
tony g wrote: ↑Fri Mar 08, 2019 8:33 pm
What oil do you use Tony?
Tony
Up until this year I was using Millers 20W-50 for the Summer and 15-40 for the Winter. Now last Winter at hot idle the Oil Pressure light came on and stayed on at idle so I'm now using 20W-50 all the year round. Nature's way of saying it is time for some engine work.
Tony.
Ok, I was off at a tangent there. I had wondered if after a layup , the oil was running down from the rings and giving low compression until the oil got back up there
I use morris golden film 20w50 all year with no problem 
