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David Lacey
Experienced User
Username: dlacey

Post Number: 48
Registered: 11-2010
Posted on Sunday, 21 June, 2015 - 10:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

All,
Had an FTP last night, wife aboard....just wouldnt start.Behaved like flat battery...solenoid clicking away. Today I tried a freshly charged battery...same clicking...Then I got a jump lead onto the starter solenoid terminal thru the OSF wheelarch and with another fresh battery it cranked & started fine.
So, I have a high resistance in the main positive battery cable. My question is the routing: is it a single piece from battery to solenoid, or are there some intermediate terminations? I guess the fault must be at or very near the starter solenoid, given its exposure to heat & grime...is this a common failure mode? is it the crimp or the bolted connection that fails??
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David Lacey
Experienced User
Username: dlacey

Post Number: 49
Registered: 11-2010
Posted on Sunday, 21 June, 2015 - 11:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

Sorry, I didnt specify, 1967 SY1 SRH4452
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Robert Noel Reddington
Prolific User
Username: bob_uk

Post Number: 157
Registered: 5-2015
Posted on Monday, 22 June, 2015 - 02:44 am:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

The battery cable on my car 17768 has no terminals between the battery and the starter motor.

The cable is P clipped to the underside of the car and clearly visible. It starts at battery on the left of the car and at some point crosses over to the right. Most likely the bolted connection at the starter motor is dodgy. When undoing the nut DO NOT allow the stud to turn. Hold the nut beneath the cables terminal. Which is on the starter solenoid piggy backed to the starter proper.
The cable is quite fat and robust so problems are most likely to be at the starter end where it get covered in #rap.

If the starter motor is not working then they are easy and relatively cheap to overhaul.

Note that there is usually shims between the starter and convertor housing. And the workshop manual has a section in chapter M that covers the starter.
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Randy Roberson
Grand Master
Username: wascator

Post Number: 453
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Monday, 22 June, 2015 - 03:51 am:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

A hint I have learned: sometimes the cable terminal at either battery post isn't as clean and resistance-free as it appears to be.
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Brian Vogel
Grand Master
Username: guyslp

Post Number: 1413
Registered: 6-2009
Posted on Monday, 22 June, 2015 - 05:36 am:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

I'm also voting for a, "first, check the condition of the connections at both battery terminals, where the negative cable attaches to the chassis, and where the main positive cable attaches to the starter" approach.

The most likely mess is at the starter, but one never knows. The original connection point of the negative battery cable to the chassis in SRH33576 was entirely painted over (factory paint) which meant the entire electrical connection was only via the wing bolt threads rather than some contact with the raised surface designed, it would seem, for the cable terminal to be in contact with.

Brian, who cleaned off an awful lot of old oil and caked crud at the starter solenoid connection
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David Lacey
Frequent User
Username: dlacey

Post Number: 51
Registered: 11-2010
Posted on Tuesday, 30 June, 2015 - 11:52 am:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

A quick wire brushing of my crusty solenoid connecting wires has restored proceedability.
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Brian Vogel
Grand Master
Username: guyslp

Post Number: 1433
Registered: 6-2009
Posted on Tuesday, 30 June, 2015 - 12:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

David,

Congrats!! Dontcha just love it when a solution is easier than you might ever have hoped at the outset?

Brian
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Robert Noel Reddington
Prolific User
Username: bob_uk

Post Number: 210
Registered: 5-2015
Posted on Wednesday, 01 July, 2015 - 05:17 am:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

RRs are just like any other car. They get minor faults. There's a tendency for overthinking and imagining all sorts of stuff.

I once decided that an engine was seized when the starter motor bendix jammed in the ring gear. The car was in for restoration so the engine had to come out and as I undone the starter bolts I realised that the engine wasn't seized. The engine was actually in good condition.