midget 1500 earth cable

[stedale]

Where should this be found, presumably connecting the engine to the bodywork?

[wildoliver]

Should really be one on the gearbox and one on the engine, engine one is usually on the front engine mount and gearbox one tends to be on the gearbox to engine flange.

As with all classics though they could be anywhere.

If you haven't got one at all I guess you have a sluggish starter and a hot choke cable!

[Spitfire2]

On Spitfire 1500 earth strap connects to one of the bolts which connects engine to bell housing.

[stedale]

Found it, or at least one of them, in the vicinity of the O/s engine mount. I'm having starter issues at the moment and thought it might be a bad earth. However there is minimal resistance (< 1 mohm) between the starter body and battery -ve so its not that. Having by-passed the solenoid with a booster cable the starter motor span freely so I'm suspicious of the solenoid or the quality of the signal from the ignition switch.

thanks for pointers anyway.

[perdu]

Look at the condition of the bracket where the solenoid is mounted, rust under the mounting screws can cause serious problems even if all the other power cables are healthy

The solenoid switches the main starter power on by earthing the magnetic pull down coil through its mounting bracket

[stedale]

perdu said:

Look at the condition of the bracket where the solenoid is mounted, rust under the mounting screws can cause serious problems even if all the other power cables are healthy

The solenoid switches the main starter power on by earthing the magnetic pull down coil through its mounting bracket

You might be right here. I bought a new solenoid in the end and now its tuning over more strongly than ever. But It might the process of removal and refitting created a better earth.

[perdu]

stedale said:

perdu said:

Look at the condition of the bracket where the solenoid is mounted, rust under the mounting screws can cause serious problems even if all the other power cables are healthy

The solenoid switches the main starter power on by earthing the magnetic pull down coil through its mounting bracket

You might be right here. I bought a new solenoid in the end and now its tuning over more strongly than ever. But It might the process of removal and refitting created a better earth.

It's worth taking it off again and cleaning the (probably) rusty metal where it mounts with emery cloth/sand paper then covering with a thin film of Vaseline before refitting it. Wouldn't hurt to touch up the surrounding area where you sanded it with a drop of zinc primer then a cover up (for tidiness!) of topcoat colour

The Vaseline will do a fine job of arresting further rust growth for a while

[thisisnotaspoon]

As he said, I sent ages fiddling with solenoids before refiting the original and everything was bizzarely fine!