Club 80-90 Forums

I've been trying to figure out why my van wouldn't start for weeks off and on. Slowly been swapping in and out parts and following previous fellow bodger's problems on here. I cleaned the earth's and the slightly corroded earth crowns, no. Changed the HT leads, no. Swapped the coil, no. Dizzy cap, no. Ignition amplifier, no. Hall sensor, no. Another Dizzy, no.Spark plugs, no.
Then I was about to investigate the wires I'd attached near the ignition and thought I'd tray again, it starts and after a bit of fiddling it sounds okay.
The last thing I touched and cleaned were the connections on the alternator, could that of somehow been preventing a spark and start?
Big thanks for the hundreds of posts I read trying to solve this

Sean

Try swapping the earth lead to the battery or adding an extra one and see if you get a bit more starter motor power. The (probably original) earth lead on my '83 had frayed / deteriorated and wasn't able to handle the large starting current these vans have. A new earth thicker lead made a big difference.

Thanks will try that, see if it improves

I had same issue. Remove earth braid wire off gearbox mount 13mm and wire brush it, do the stud too and the underside of the van. Do the same with the terminal connectors on starter motor and boom, fixed! £0

Cleaned up a very corroded earth strap and there's a big difference in start up and ticking over.

Thanks gents, it's never been this good...... Famous last words

Good to hear it worked. There's nothing worse than not being able to trust your starter motor.

Where would you go next?
I've had the same issue I believe but made the same "fixes": cleaned earth straps; cleaned starter connections; ht leads; refurbished starter motor fitted; new ignition switch fitted
I don't know where to go from here???

Any thoughts?

Dont forget to check the earth crowns above the fusebox and alternator connections