Club 80-90 Forums

When you won’t crank, do you mean not at all turning it over, or very slowly ?
Too far advanced timing can give these symptoms.

937carrera wrote:Kev,

He's already eliminated the van wiring by putting current direct to the starter.

Could still be the cable from the solenoid to the starter, quite often suspect. I like the starters that have copper bar rather than that braid.

Cmcalpine3 wrote:Yeah ive went a got a brand new battery, tried it with a jump aswell still nothing.
How would i check the bush in the starter housing?
Thanks

that would not suddenly change IMO, it would have been slow cranking for ages

He's never had it running

Cmcalpine3 wrote:This is the 3rd starter ive had in it and they are all the same

It wont turn over at all with the plugs in maybe for every 10 turns of the key the engine will make 1 full revoloution. I can literally stop the engine from turning with my finger over the hole where the spark plugs go.

can you turn it over from the pulley bolt with the plugs in ( or out)

Cmcalpine3 wrote:I triggered the starter with the jump leads then onto a battery out of the vehicle. The engine turns over great when the plugs are removed and turns nice with a spanner on the crank pulley so i think the engine internally is ok. This is the 3rd starter ive had in it and they are all the same

Cmcalpine3 wrote:No but i know the guy i got it from and it was running in marchl when it was parked up

Strange one, seems like a flat battery. New battery fitted, I think we're all assuming the new battery is good and fully charged. Would be good to know battery voltage.

I still think this is a circuit issue, not enough current.

Yeah plugs in i can turn the crank pulley by hand with out too much effort.
And ive charged both batterys and tested them at 12.5v or above.
When i turn the key should the voltage at the starter drop right down because its being used?
It drops from 12.6 to about 1 or 2 volts while it cranks/ or in this case doesnt crank
Thsnks

9 or 10v can be seen - that voltage is waaay too low.

sooner or later you nedd to try another starter
is there anybody you know near you that can lend you one?

I don't think you can measure voltage drop that way.

With battery in normal position, measure battery voltage, then measure main starter connection to a good earth. If battery is 12.5v and starter shows 12.1v then there's 0.4v drop along the starter cable (made up numbers).

Measuring voltage drop with a meter doesn't measure the ability of the cable to carry the current required to turn the engine over.

But the van wiring was eliminated as a potential cause of your problem when you went direct from the battery to the starter connections with jump leads.

12.5v isn't fully charged, about 70%, should be OK, but for diagnosis purposes I would charge the battery up again, 12-7-12.8 is what you are looking for, after resting following the charge.

Try cranking with the dizzy cap removed. If it's no different then that eliminates the advanced timing suggestion made earlier.

After that, take the starter out and inspect the shaft / bush. Post some photos if you can.

Pretty bad luck if you have had 3 dodgy starters, but I suppose it is possible, if very unlikely

He isn't measuring the voltage drop of the cable it is the voltage drop at the starter.The checking of the connections mentioned in the original post doesn't mention that all connections were removed, cleaned up/replaced. That voltage whilst cranking suggests poor connections somewhere down the circuit ( doesn't explain failure with the leads though). Worn bush could allow misalignment of the motor leading to poor brush contact which would explain it.

Thanks alot, i actually have another engine which came with the van. I am going to removed the starter and try it in the other engine. Will let yous know. I have a video of what is happening will upload later. Thanks again

poor wiring, bad connections
old wire gone high resistance i say