Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all,

Bought new sparks, changed oil and filter, new battery, old coil, the rest is original.

Before the last batt ran flat, it took about 4 or 5 goes of turning over a few times with the key before it started. Once it was started, for the rest of the day it would start on first turnover with the key.

Since the battery went flat, i have changed the sparks, whilst they were all out, i turned the flywheel full revolution as advised to release some pressure (or something like that please bear with me i am learning - used to be a bay owner) once sparks were all put back in, not overtightened, and the leads put back, i connected new battery and after a few turns she started.

Left it running for 5 mins, had a little listen and a look, this is what i have



that was yesterday.

Today, i tried in the morning, no luck, i tried lots of times, and eventually smelt a hot electrical smell so i thought i better had stop. Also thought it may be flooded due to so much of the same without combustion etc. Battery went flat ish, so charged it up.

Went round back and took fuel pipe off carb to check it was getting through as i havent done the pipes yet, and it had fuel there.

Looked in haynes, it said to take each electrical connection off and wd40 them to eliminate the possibility of water/moisture affecting connections but im sure it wasnt that anyway.

Anyway later on the same as above, batt went flat ish, the smell was back. Battery is back on charge now, i am so furstrated.

I am "pooh" at this, on the bay it was easy, i did all the bodywork, all the welding, prep for spraying, and the engine was a treat. This is like being thrown in the deep end i dont know what anythings called, and at the same time i dont want to break anything like the starter motor which i hope i havent f8cked.

Anyway, anyone care to share some advice, offer a pat on the back or a kick in the balls?

Cheers all, i know i can do this, and i refuse to go to a garage, i am not a dork i have to be clever all day running my cabinetry workshop, but i have only lightly fiddled with mechanics and it is stressing me out.


PSG

When it did start was it running smoothly or was it rough, like running on 3 cylinders? Are you getting a spark to all the plugs , are the plugs tight. That's for starters, I'm sure someone far more knowledgable will be along soon but it might just get you going.
We all have to start somewhere and although its a flat four it is a little different to the 1600 air cooled in the t2 ( that's if it was a 1600).
Don't give up all hope just yet. Daz
The electrical burning may be from the starter as it sounds like its doing a lot of work turning the engine over .

some clues and remedies...
https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Al ... t_starting" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Have you replaced the spark plug leads in the right order? i.e 1432

yeah the plugs were changed one by one so defo in the correct order. it ran smooth before this. Today after the battery had charged, i plugged it back in and turned the key, not even a click.

Have you had a look at your ignition barrel / switch?

These seem to have a habit of going, and may account for the electrical burning smell you have whilst trying to start...

Cheers,

Alex

the ignition barrel is fine, i smelt the burning coming from the rear of the van as i got out to look in the engine compartment, but it wasnt the engine, then i went to look under the rear where the bellhousing is and it was there where the smell was strongest. im going to get the van up on stands and take the starter motor off to investigate.

Ok so if I read it right, the ONLY thing that you have changed that could affect starting/running is the spark plugs ? where they the same as the ones you took out ? are they gapped correctly ? a thumb nail is a good gauge if you dont have feeler gauges and know the correct gap.... I would put the old plugs back in a see what happens....

all an engine needs to run is 3 things

1 fuel
2 a spark
3 compression

start from scratch and see what happens, plugs could be the wrong ones, faulty or gapped incorrectly.

let us know what you find

Martin

smell will be your starter motor complaining !

if the engine doesnt start within 15- 20 seconds max, something is wrong, it should go on first crank.

clean up the starter motor connections!
particularly the solenoid connections
Though by now the wire is fried and might need replacing.

Well i turned the key the other day, no noise, no click, nothing. lights came up as usual on dash. checked battery which read something like 12.83v and that is brand new. I decided that i would take starter motor off as i think it could do with either an overhaul or replace. I will hopefully be changing the bush in the bellhousing, (cant find anywhere for a replacement yet any help welcome) and will also be doing the brushes on the st motor which also i cant find yet but still looking.

I took the solenoid off the st motor and gave it a good clean up, wiped all the "pooh" off the steel centre and brass collet, now just deciding which drop of lubricant to put back in when i re-assemble - will 3in1 do or do i need something more specific?

Anyway, i tested the solenoid on its own, nothing, then connected it to the starter in a vice, but im sure i got the wiring mixed up so i got a bit of a jamming noise - not for long as it scared me to death what with the sparks that came off the contact lol. Anyway i read up on it last night online and there are loads of resources for this so hopefully i will be abled to re-install this soon if i can find the parts.

And i think i learned an order of something this week, it goes something like this.

Rocker cover, r/c gasket, tappets, tappet cups, pushrods, valves, pistonheads, conrods, then camshaft? am i right? And this whole sequence runs through the head.

So whats the difference between a camshaft and a crankshaft? obviously a camshaft has off centre cams.

Anyway all for now. i have got flicks but i will upload when i finish the reconditioning of the st/motor/solenoid.

PSG

Don't test the starter whilst it is off the van. It only has a support bearing at one end, the other (at the "cog end") is on the van in the bellhousing. Running it off the van will cause the internals (called the "armature") to thrash around, rubbing against the magnets, damaging it.

who knows wher is the cheapest place to get a quality starter motor from? i cant be paying 200 quid. I found a hella one for £104 through a friend who buys trade, anyone else know any good prices about?

PeeSG wrote:who knows wher is the cheapest place to get a quality starter motor from? i cant be paying 200 quid. I found a hella one for £104 through a friend who buys trade, anyone else know any good prices about?

Might be worth placing an ad in the Wanted section - someone might have one stored away