Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Starter issue

General query for the Collective Wisdom.

Took my MG Midget for a shakedown trackday at Knockhill on Sunday ... ran very well ... had one odd minor issue ... starter whizzed the engine over when cold .... but after a series of hard laps could hardly turn it when hot ... the hot engine sounds smooth and sweet and settles to a steady normal tickover so I'm fairly sure it's not getting 'tight' ... and after cooling down it starts on the button next time' ..... any thoughts?

K

Ps ... by 'hot' I mean normal running temperature

Tired starter solenoid maybe

Will try bridging it with a screwdriver next time to eliminate it .... 👍

K

I had a similar problem with a K series Caterham. Turned out the mounting face that the starter was bolted to wasn't true, so the starter was not perpendicular to the flywheel ring gear and moved enough off line when hot to jam up. Leave the car for a bit particularly with the bonnet off and it started fine. The starter was mounted right under the exhaust manifold. A new brize starter and fettling of the mounting face saw this problem sorted. Not sure if its relevant to your engine layout, but thought it worth a mention.

I'd suspect a coil in the starter, had this very issue in one of my cars, new starter resolved the issue.

It's quite easy bypass the solenoid to operate the starter by bridging out across the main cable feed bolt tops to check if fault within the solenoid, just beware of the crack and spark that will make you jump (oh, and make sure it's out of gear )

Another idea that I’ve seen on an MGB. Starter and pinion ring gears wear especially on their leading edges creating high spots. When hot the high spots caused the gears to mesh too tightly. I theory the starter has a fixed location but I found loosening the mounting bolts and re fixing the whilst applying a little outward pressure to the starter gave just a tiny amount of free play and solved the problem. Similar method to tightening a fan belt but attempting to reduce pressure rather than creat it. Worked for me.

Thanks for the suggestions so far .... will try them.out and report back .... plenty of time as the season doesn't start until April and it definitely isn't a road car!! ... have it insured and ran it up and down the lane a few times before the trackday just to make sure the basics worked .... like being rolled downstairs in a dustbin!! .... fine (if noisy) at track speeds though.

K