starter motor issues?

[PAB]

Went to start the car this morning, and after some sluggish turning over the starter motor stopped working and started to make a strange grinding noise. I'm guessing this is probably terminal, meaning yet another starter (3rd in as many years).. any thoughts on what the problem could be? Thanks

[Jon Tilson]

Sounds like low battery volts to me.
Stick another battery on or try some jump leads and it should be fine.

Jon

[PAB]

Thanks for the suggestions I've tried it with my jump starter and it makes no difference though. Grinding is perhaps the wrong way of describing it, more a very fast loud clicking. Battery is now on charge, but I don't hold out much hope.

[Jon Tilson]

That will be the solenoid chattering as it does. This means you have good contact to the solenoid.
Your jump start pack may well be discharged as well.

Look at the high load cable to the solenoid, not the small lucar one. See if its loose or the connection looks poor.
Also look at the battery earth strap and the one on the engine.

Its unlikely to be the starter if its been changed recently.

You could bump start the car and run the engine for a bit to warm it up and recharge the battery.
Cold mornings do bring on these problems.

Jonners

[AlanH]

If could be the cable connections to the body and the motor.

I have found my starter is much less trouble since I cleaned the contacts (still not 100%)

[PAB]

Thanks chaps, sounds hopeful. Will investigate further tomorrow

[PAB]

Still no joy Fully charged battery with mains powered jumper, cleaned contacts to motor, changed coil for good measure, gave motor a good old tap and rocked car forward in gear. Solenoid is giving it beans making a right racket, but no sign of the engine turning over. Any other suggestions?

[dave comer]

Whip the motor out and try it directly across the battery. If it turns over at a fast rate, it would appear the motor is ok. Check that the pinion is not jammed. Other causes could well be a burnt commutator,a stuck brush, bent armature shaft, worn bushes or faulty field windings.

[xvivalve]

Recon 1500HL starter motor available here in Stourbridge on an exchange basis...

[PAB]

Thanks, I'll remove it over the weekend and see what happens. I may well be in touch Alun.

[MIG Wielder]

Thanks for the suggestions I've tried it with my jump starter and it makes no difference though. Grinding is perhaps the wrong way of describing it, more a very fast loud clicking. Battery is now on charge, but I don't hold out much hope.

Thanks for the suggestions I've tried it with my jump starter and it makes no difference though. Grinding is perhaps the wrong way of describing it, more a very fast loud clicking. Battery is now on charge, but I don't hold out much hope.

This is a good description, as it says exactly what is happening. The pull-in coil on the solenoid is working fine but there is a subsequent problem, that then causes it to drop out, and the volts rise and it pulls in again; probably one of the problems below.
* High resistance on the battery connection.
* Holding coil in the solenoid faulty ( not holding the solenoid in ).
* Faulty segments on the starter solenoid ( pull-in coil puls in, the starter just starts to turn but drops out when it meets the faulty segment )
* High resistance on the brown wire to the ignition switch. ( Pull-in coil works initially but drops out when high motor current is drawn. ) . Also applies to the thick white/ red cable and that link plug down by the gearbox.
* Faulty ( high resistance ) battery.
Here is a sketch of the starter electrical system.
HTH,
Tony.

[wimpus]

Hi,

Is it still an original starter motor ?
When i first starting to drive my spitfire after 3 days i stalled and couldn't restart her ..
Got the starter off and it was spinning very good ..

Same day, again failed !
Opened it up, and then i could see that the rotor was just so worn, previous owner(s) already installed new brushes..
Sometimes making contact and sometimes not ..

So bought a new one, all good since then !

[PAB]

Shorted out the solenoid to see if the engine turned, but got nothing but sparks. Finally got around to taking it off. Totally dead even when current directly applied to motor, so something's a miss. This one was a rimmers recon bought in 2012, time for another from somewhere else I think.