Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Car won't start

Hi I have a 1965 Morgan plus 4 TR4 engine when I turn the key nothing no crank no noise but the headlamps come on what should I check first Thanks in advance
PS car ran fine 2 days earlier now dead

First step would be to check the battery condition.

Check the earth leads as well

Arwyn

Are you saying that the headlights come on when you turn the key to start position? Or that you have turned the lights on to check you have battery?

Does the ignition light come on ?

If you know you have a good battery then I'd start at solenoid, is it live? Jump lead across direct to the starter, check your earths..

It should be fairly easy to trace the cause.

I'd put money on it being the earth strap.

thanks will check battery today

If the battery checks out, have a look at the solenoid which should have a manual push button which you could try.

On the early +4s you turn on the ignition with a key , but starting is via a button which is separate.

If you do not even hear a starter solenoid clicking, it may be the battery, it may be the solenoid, it could be the battery earth, and it could also be the starter motor, or the engine earth.

If it ran OK a couple of days ago , unless you have left some lights on and drained it , it is rather unlikely to be the battery, but worth checking anyway. I rather suspect other causes.

I would operate the solenoid manually and if that brings nothing, check the battery earth (and feed) terminals and the earth to chassis connection which must be good. I would also check the engine earth strap , and again both connections need to be clean , bright, and well fixed.

It is possible that the starter has jammed , although it does seem unlikely as I think the solenoid should click if this were the case, so rock the car backwards and forwards whilst in gear to free it off, then try again.

This is a plate of the TR4 Starter motor and solenoid.



Is there an audible click from the solenoid? If not I would think it could be the solenoid but I am not familiar with the circuitry.

My first idea would be to try the push button on the end of the solenoid. If that does not work I would check to see that current is arriving at the solenoid from the battery, then if current is arriving at the solenoid from the key switch (red/white?) when the key is turned. If current is not arriving at the solenoid from the battery on the main cable, or from the starter button or ignition key follow the chain back to locate the problem. It could be a faulty starter button or ignition key.

If there is an audible click and/or pushing the button on the back of the solenoid has no effect check to see if there is current arriving on the solenoid output when the button is pressed or the key turned, if so check the cable from the solenoid to the starter. If current is eventually arriving at the starter it must be the starter motor that is at fault.

Somebody from my past referred to those as "explosion diagrams"