Paul,
>When you say 'hard to start' do mean poor cranking or cranking but no go?
I
Hmm! Well, the first problem was the starter wouldn't turn at all, just a
muted click symbolic of no battery power/bad ground. But I *think* this was
simply due to the fact the fanbelt was loose and not charging the batteries.
The last time the car died (in lovely blackpool <G> now I see why TVR's are
so quirky <VBG>) after the fanbelt was fixed and a three hour drive - she
spun on the starter but I had to try her 2-3 times to get her to spin. I am
almost positive I do have some kind of intermittant connection either to the
starter or perhaps even the ignition lock failing(?).
>The former is probably battery or connections (possibly starter) but the
Will check this, thanks also for the info on the location of the ground
strap! I could have been searching for that for quite a while! Workshop
manual etc are on order!
>operate spade of the solenoid - it is very exposed to the elements and
Will check this out too.
>When the engine stutters and dies and then won't start (is it cranking?)
In blackpool yes, but had to keep rpms up to keep her running and she was
mifiring very badly. She also doesn't like to start sometimes after a short
warmup. Is it common that the carbs flood? It seems if she idles for a while
and then given a few revs to bring her up to temp, then switched off there
is a strong fuel smell and she can be almost impossible to restart. After a
20 minute wait say, I can restart but she is quite lumpy for a few minutes
until the excess is blown through. Never had this problem on my A/B before,
is this a V8/SU issue? Unfortunatley I am just guessing at the moment, it
all just reeks of basic problems combined to me that will just take some
time to iron out. I aren't going to touch the carbs, they seem great and
measured up well on the Co2 test, the mechanic was impressed at any rate.
The pistons were pretty well gummed up and we cleaned them up then filled
the empty dashpots. That improved the throttle response markedly.
>neccesarily a bad thing as long as the gauge is reading correctly.
Yes who knows and I can't test that just now, a meat thermometer I guess?
<G> I'm not sure if I explained the temp correctly. The fans cut in at about
say 20% of the way into the N-Red zone. They take the temp back to a little
under N then cut out. When the fans are running rpms decrease by about
200-250 and I am guessing this is when the car decides to cut out. Perhaps
the idle is too low? I am running her at about 800rpm when at N pre fans.
>especially on a new purchase). Are you anywhere near the Midlands these
>days or back in Ireland?
I was close a couple of days ago but back in Ireland now. I should have
remembered to try you for advice! :) The problem was all the advice in the
world wouldn't have helped without tools and a location to purchase them
from, not to mention almost everywhere was closed due to the New Year etc!!
Oh well, most importantly we made it back and in one piece! I have now just
found out there aren't ANY MG parts suppliers in the ROI and I have to order
from the North. Pretty amazing!
Thanks for the help Paul. :)
One other thing, the ground wire in the distributor is pretty dodgy looking,
I saw this originally and thought this may have been the cause, the two
mechanics discounted this but I know it does cause the cars to die, not sure
about misfire. At any rate, is there any special way to remove this or is it
just soldered in place - are replacements available?
Cheers,
Neil
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