Club 80-90 Forums

Looking forward to this.

Sorry guys - I haven't forgot to keep you updated; just no progress because some buffoon forgot to soak the bush in oil Friday night before going to the unit Saturday....

It's in soaking as we speak...

Promise to let you know how it goes...

Chris

Right, quick update gang.

Put the new bush in today then the starter motor.

Turned the key and it did turn over straight away but it was quite slow from the outset and slowed quickly but the battery is clearly flat as I tried it with the headlights on and they pretty much went right out.

So still definitive 'yes' it has worked or 'no' it hasn't so I will have to take my battery charger up the unit next Saturday and give the battery a good charge....

If that doesn't work, what's the next steps to eliminate? I reckon next would be checking earth return to battery. What is best way to do that? (remember I have already changed the gearbox earth strap recently). If not that, how do I check for tight engine - just take plugs out and try and turn over? which way is best - by hand or on the starter?

Hopefully it will be ok once the battery is charged...

Thanks,

Chris

How old is the battery? Has it been drop tested?

Hi,

Battery is under 12 mhs old - Bosch S4 so wouldn't expect any issues tbh. What is drop testing?

I did feel like drop-kicking it yesterday...

Stamina test - not dropping it from a height

Hopefully fully charged all should be well.

I wouldn't leave a battery discharged for a week before recharging,I thought storing a battery discharged will lead to poor performance and possible irreversible damage, but I am not sure if that is just a foible of mine or some old wisdom I picked up somewhere. I am sure an expert on batteries will be along to help.

Ok - so charged the battery up today and after a few hours, turned her over.

It was still a bit slow at first but starter seems to have plenty more power and yes she fired at the second attempt (fuel had probably drained down so happy with that!)

Great to hear the old girl running again and good job as the brakes were starting to seize on so not a moment too soon.

I let her run for a while and sounded good. I let her cool down then tried starting again. Again the first turn was laboured but then she fired with a boom, the starter sounding much more powerful. I tried this a couple more times and same result.

So, in summary, starter seems fine, but still slow first couple of turns.

So what are the next steps? I still keep coming back to tight engine in my mind. How do I test definitively?

Many thanks,

Chris

Hi

Years ago I had a Land Rover with very similar problems.

Long story, but in the end the fix was simple.

You mentioned 'cleaning out the grooves' on the commutator - it is essential that the individual segments are electrically separate.

Tiny fragments of copper get into the grooves and can create a current path.

The solution is to clean between the segments with a broken hacksaw blade and then make sure that the gap is spotlessly clean.

The process is well known to electricians and is known as undercutting. Google 'undercutting commutator segments'.

It worked miracles for me on my 1965 Landy,

All the best - Pete

My starter failed on sunday.....took it off tonight.

I cant feel the oilite bush that has been mentioned.....and i cant work out how to look in and see it as its hard to reach.
Daft question.....does a diesel have a bush or are they different

It's part of the starter motor on a diesel!

Thought it looked like that....many thanks....

PeterOD wrote:Hi

Years ago I had a Land Rover with very similar problems.

Long story, but in the end the fix was simple.

You mentioned 'cleaning out the grooves' on the commutator - it is essential that the individual segments are electrically separate.

Tiny fragments of copper get into the grooves and can create a current path.

The solution is to clean between the segments with a broken hacksaw blade and then make sure that the gap is spotlessly clean.

The process is well known to electricians and is known as undercutting. Google 'undercutting commutator segments'.

It worked miracles for me on my 1965 Landy,

All the best - Pete

Hi,

Thanks for this but I did this fix whilst I had the starter off... - it no fixy.

I am still erring on tight engine but gotta work out how to test that or possibly bad earth return but already changed gearbox strap...

Chris

Check your voltage between the battery positive and negative then compare it to the voltage between positive and a good earth point on the body. There should be next to no difference. A large difference points to a dodgy battery earth connection/strap.