hi all

we've just had a run of crap luck with cars, my wrx did a gearbox and 4 days later my hubby hit a roo with the forrester so we are left with just the 72 clubman for a car and he's still not 100%

I'm having an intermitant problem with starting him. He turns over ok just wont fire. Its not all the time and when it does happen I keep trying and eventually he fires but its a Problem I'd like to eliminate.

Being new at this im not sure where to start.... did have starter motor trouble before but I believe I have fix that and didnt think it would turn over if that was playing up?

any help is good help
thanx

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Fox

Possiable causes are;
1) lead are on the wrong order( if starts and drives some times it is not this)
2) wrong/ loose point adjustment
3) wrong timing
4) old/faulty coil

My money on the coil.
I don`t know how would you be able to test it but if you can swap with a another one maybe

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Since light travels faster than sound, people appear bright until you hear them speak

If it's just starting it that's the problem, you may also want to look at your choke. I recently fixed my cold starting problems by adjusting the choke cable - with the choke cable fully extended, I had the choke only half open. When it was cold it took ages to start.

Would adjusting the carb help? Turning it up so it isn't so lean.

Well, if it's already running lean, it would. :D

If you're cold starting, the engine will need a richer mixture. But if you richen up the mixture for the cold starts, it'll run too rich for normal temperatures. That's why I'd look at the choke.

There's two stages for an SU choke - there's a fast idle which just opens the butterfly a little (just like putting your foot on the accelerator a tiny bit), and the jet lowering for cold starts which actually enriches the mixture. I'm assuming you have a manual choke.

If you put the choke on full, you should see the jet underneath the carb lower slightly. If the car runs fine normally, I wouldn't play with the idle mixture.

If you have a distributer with points the first thing to do is check the point gap
Dave

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OK I found the problem its the starter motor again. Annoying since i have taken it to an auto lecky and he reckons there is nothing wrong with it. Clearly there is coz its not.....right word?.... protruding? It keeps getting jammed up. If spray some wd40 in there it works for a while but then it gets this build up of gunk and metal filings on it again and jams up.

I had spoken to the guys at minisport a while back about this and we thought we had found the cause of the filings and replaced that part..... but it must be something else..... any thoughts please share.

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Fox

Search for info on fitting a Gemini starter motor. you may be able to pick one up from a wreckers fairly cheap and fit it. I've done it myself and it's not hard by following the directions. The biggest trick is bypassing your solenoid as the Gemini starter already has one. Going rate at Sydney wreckers a few years back used to be about $40-50. I lucked it and picked up a reco one out of a wreck that looked like it was only a year or two old.

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"throwing out" is the right word

best to lubricate with graphite powder instead of anything liquid. Clean it really well with spray degreaser then puff the graphite onto it and work it around

that said, putting in a Gemini starter is dead easy, file the holes in the gemini starter so it'll bolt up to the mini flywheel housing. Then move the big wire that goes to the starter to the other side of the solenoid, making a direct connection, the other end goes to the spare terminal on the gemini starter. Then move the skinny red/white wire to the little screw tgerminal on Gemini starter

I bought a Gemini starter for $45 last week from the wreckers, has a sticker on it saying it's a remanufactered unit

edit: the actual problem, when it occurs, is the engine actually turning - IE is the fan spinning etc. ?

throwing out thats the one!

Yeh the fan's spinning

Im wondering where all the metal filings are coming from tho coz nothing on the starter is worn at all so something in there is slowing getting worn away.

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Fox

do you know if its sparking everytime its cranking over? i had an electrical issue, everytime i would crank it wouldnt fire untill i let go of the key.. so all this fuel with 1 spark..wasnt doing much. it was just a matter of wiring it up correctly.

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1975 Leyland Mini: 1060cc - resto/ ex-hsc project.

i had a similar problem as Leighton, my ignition switch wasnt giving power to the coil when cranking (every other position not a problem). easy fix was to do a bit of wiring surgery. test with a multimeter. it could be many things though, so check your timing first up, check that your not getting any air leaks near your inlet manifold (inlet and extractor flanges not same thickness) and all the other basic stuff like plugs, points, coil, proper earth connections etc

Providing your engine is tuned right, just try holding the key in the start position for short amount of time, instead of holding it and continually cranking the engine over,
it could be that your ignition switch is faulty and its making you think that there is something else wrong, see whether it fires when you let go of the key. I've seen this problem a few times.