The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

The starter motor has gone kaput possibly because there's 12 volts st the small switching wire in position 2 and 3. The aa man said it should only be there on 2. Is the fault likely to be in the ignition switch in the steering cowl? If so can I fix it or does anyone have a fast replacement please?

I don't know the answers to the first two parts of your question, but for the third look at item 33 in 'Ted's Stuff'

If you mean the small switching wire at the starter, this should only be live on position 3 of the ignition switch. Position 0 is off, I is auxilliary (so you can listen to the radio without burning out the coil) II is ignition on, for normal running and III is start. If you have power to the start wire on II the starter will run continuously with the engine (which should really have been audible) and would certainly burn out the starter in short order. Ignition switch failure is the most likely scenario here (though not necessarily the only possibility)

Steve

Yup ! It will be the ignition switch itself. I had exactly this problem on a late model MGB with the combined steering lock and ignition switch. I stalled the car at a set of lights, but on restarting and pulling away I noticed a whine from the engine bay. This got worse and I then noticed the Voltmeter gauge was down at 11 Volts and then there was an ominious smell of burning phenolic. So I pulled into a convenient lay-by and carefully pulled the bonnet release expecting to see smoke and flames. ( Alternators whine a lot when heavily overloaded and the volts drop right down ). But no ! There was strong smell of burning but nothing else. So I went on my way but I did notice the volts had now come back to normal , but the ignition key felt soggy in rotation. On reaching my works just down the road I parked in a remote space, but I did notice the starter was now dead. Not even a click. But on feeling the starter motor It was red hot ! And now dead.
The soggy ignition switch was the answer. It hadn't returned to position after after I stalled but remained in mesh, still taking current and now being driven at high speed by the flywheel. I cut it open and there is a return spring in the switch to get it back to position 2.
I got a new one from Moss but it had faulty crimps which I had to solder to stop it intermittently turning the ignition off.

HTH,
Tony.

X3 for switch. When my sprint was new to me it all worked great until the engine had problems. In the down time I had a fair bit of electrical modernisation as well as a fresh engine rebuild,... anyway the voltage check from the ign switch to starter etc showed odd results so I pulled the (crimped) back off the switch and found lots of green! In laying up for a few months all the switch terminals were corroded and it looked wrecked. I cleaned it all carefully and re-crimped the back onto the switch and all was good again. Terminals were greased lightly to stop corrosion for the next 30 years (hopefully).

Take the small wires off the starter and look at the switch first. If thats fixed make sure the voltage is not going to the starter solenoid when ign is switched on, only when cranking as Carledo has said. Good luck

Tony

Excellent help thanks guys. Another starter and switch is on its way to me thanks to Alun.

According to Interparcel it left UPS Exeter depot at 6 am this morning, so should be with you shortly.

It has just arrived thanks. Nicely packed and ready to fit.