The 'E' Type Forum

Hi all,
Since putting my engine back in, occasionally I press the starter button but she no go. If I rock the car a bit, in gear, it will then engage and crank ok. Never had this issue prior. Any suggestions?

Pete

Solenoid?

Hmmm.... is this the original starter ? Have you changed the flywheel ? Have you used an all-synchro box instead of the original ? The reason I ask is that any change of these three items will cause problems - if you change one you have to change the lot ( except for using a hi-torque starter which will usually fit without problems)

No nothing changed. Flywheel removed, machined and new clutch fitted.

Pete,
Have a read of post #13 on here :-
http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php? ... 01#p130901

I had a similar issue of an intermittent starting issue. Usually it’s a bad earth and on my car it didn’t help there was a loose spade connection on my Hi Torque starter, but it turned out to be the high load on the original ignition switch - which I sorted with the relay modification.
Cheers,
Dave

Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll start with checking the cable connection to the starter and also the earth strap as it was disconnected during the engine removal. Given it seems to crank after rocking the car fore & aft in gear would that suggest it’s more likely to be the starter motor itself?

Pete

Sounds like the starter motor to me
Could be the starter pinion sticking in the flywheel teeth
Or a bad spot on the armature inside the starter
Joe

My experience with starter defects so far:
solenoid (intermittent, happened with two solenoids, one was temperature related)
broken small spring
brushes
..and a defect that still occurs occasionally (when hot)- turns only after having pushed button several times
and yes, I have checked everything but not yet renewed armature and field coil...

Hi, I'm not sure if this is relevant to a 3.8 but on my 4.2 I had a similar and very strange problem. Is there a spacer between the starter motor and the bell housing? Can you hear the solenoid click when you push the button? In my case the solenoid was clicking but the starter wasn't cranking despite the aluminium spacer being present & correct. In the end the only thing that resolved the issue was to add a 2nd spacer plate despite it having worked well with only one previously.