I went on the Chicagoland MG Club's Spring Green Tour today. Lovely day to
go driving up the backroads to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. After the second
stop, my starter died. Had not had any trouble with it previously; it had
always stepped right up to the plate and done its job. Suddenly, it simply
died. No Lucas smoke, no nothing. Turn the key and the solenoid clicked
solidly into the fire position, but not so much as an attempt on the part of
the motor.
No, the drive was not jammed. Yes, I do have one of the solenoids with a
push-button, no difference there. Push-started it the remaining three times
between there and my house. Isn't it nice having a car small enough to
push-start solo? Better when you have a couple of friends nearby though...
Now I have pulled it out and put in a replacement motor that just happened
to be lying about my cluttered garage (my knockoff wrench is in there
somewhere, too). It works fine, but the one I took out has no sign of life
at all. If I hook it up to a battery, there is no spark when you touch the
lead and no attempt whatsoever to turn. Kind of perplexing.
I took it apart, but there is no sign of anything having died. Commutator
looks ok, brushes still have some life to them, armature smells ok. I
suppose I will have to dig out the ohm-meter to satisfy my curiosity, but I
thought I would ask you folks what might have died.
David Lieb
RWA Midgets
/// unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net or try
/// http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive/spridgets
|