That brings up a good point. Make sure you have a good ground connection to
your motor. The original MG system used a ground cable between the
transmission and the transmission cross member. I was able to reuse my
cable. If you don’t have this cable you engine won't have a good ground and
will result in slow cranking. The engine and transmission are sitting on
three rubber mounts.
----Original Message Follows----
From: FJ40Jim@aol.com
Reply-To: FJ40Jim@aol.com
To: Wake074@aol.com, mgb-v8@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: More info, but still won't start
Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 07:41:11 EDT
In a message dated 5/7/00, Wake074@aol.com writes:
> I seem to be getting consistent spark, although not very strong. When I
> crank the starter, the voltage at the coil drops considerable down to
around
> 4 volts. This is certainly causing the weak spark.
Glenn,
This is not normal. A healthy battery and starter system should not drop
below 9 volts during cranking. A normal, modern car will not go below 10
volts. Possible culprits include: weak battery, weak cabling & connections,
dying starter motor(draws too much current, but doesn't turn over the
engine), mechanical problem inside the engine causing excessive load for
starter.
> I pulled all the spark plugs and tried rolling the engine over that way.
It
> spun at a better speed (closer to normal), and the voltage at the coil
> dropped to only 9 volts. The engine seems to be free, ie. it mores with
a
> wrench on the crankshaft sprocket.
If you can turn it over fairly easy w/ a wrench, then it is not a bad
engine.
Also, the dropping to 9 volts when cranking w/ no plugs sounds suspect.
An
engine w/ no plugs will crank real easy and real fast. There isn't enough
load to drop chassis voltage below 11V.
I'd say you have a starter or cable problem. Have a helper turn the key and
crank the engine while you check for voltage drop along the positive lead
and
the ground path.
Thanks,
Jim Chenoweth
Lancaster, Ohio, USA
Mailto: fj40jim@aol.com
Ph. 740.862.2604
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