Hi all,
The special mentioned by ken below is going on right now, I saw the ad over
the weekend.
The high draw could be (probably is) related to one of the following
1. bad starter relay/solenoid
2. bad brushes in the motor/worn out commutator (both are fixable to an
extent)
3. bad high current cable from battery to the starter
4. bad ground cable/connection (maybe even on the starter motor itself)
Basically anything that make a poor connection for the high current
connection can cause both heating and "slow spin" If the car was a daily
driver for the better part of it's life my bet is on either the solenoid or
the brushes.
In the way of theory, the starter motor is basically a dead short across the
battery at the instant of turn on. It gets real hot, real quick. It
doesn't burn up because the motor starts to spin and you end up "pulsing"
power to consecutive windings fairly quickly. In order to spin you have to
build a magnetic field big enough to spin both the motor and the engine.
This takes lots of current, poor connections limit the available current and
the motor spins slower and gets hotter. As an aside this applies to
anything electrical in the car. Bad connections result in current limiting,
resulting in dim lights, slow motors, etc.
regards
Steve
tr6@kc4sw.com
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of Trumpet76TR6@cs.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 5:47 AM
To: 6pack@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Starter
In a message dated 5/26/2003 10:45:02 PM US Mountain Standard Time,
res0s0t7@verizon.net writes:
> Listers,
>
> I suspect my starter is weak. No matter how much I charge the battery
(new
> last year) the engine never cranks as fast as it used to and after very
> little
> cranking the speed falls off substantially. There are no odd noises or
> engagement problems. The starter motor gets quite warm with use but I
don't
> know how one would quantify that for comparison with how warm it ought to
> be.
>
> Does anyone know of a test procedure for determining the condition of a
> starter while it is still in the car? Maybe one could assume out of hand
> that
> a 30-year old British car is likely to need a new starter.
>
> Does anyone have any tips to consider regarding the replacement of a TR6
> starter? How about the brand or source of a new one? Is Lucas the only
> brand
> available?
>
>
> Gary
> '73
The last time I bought a battery at Sears (about 5 years ago) they tested
the battery in the car as well as the charging system and the amp draw of
the
starter. A high amp draw indicates a bad starter. I may be mistaken, but I
think they did those tests for free if you buy a battery because they are
hoping to sell you a starter, alternator, etc. Also they don't want you
coming
back crying that your new battery died quickly and it turns out that you
have an
electrical problem that caused it. You may want to call around and see if
you
can find a place that tests your electrical system.
Ken, AZ, 76TR6
|