QuestionQUESTION: I can not get my 75 MGB to start. I had the starter rebuit. The engine does not turn over. The only response i get from the car is a clicking noise from the Starter relay. The person i bought it from said that he replaced the Carb and Distributer. I am stuck. I trance the wire and tested everything but I just can not get a spark. Any advice would be greatly appreiciated.
ANSWER: You can't expect a spark if you can't get the engine to turn over.
You need a volt meter to test circuits and the battery itself.
first put the gear shift in 4th gear and brake off and with the hood up rock the car forward and back to see if the engine is locked up or not.
Then use the volt meter to test for voltage at the starter solenoid when the key is in the start position. Also check battery voltage, then turn the key to start and read battery voltage. It must not drop below 10 or 11 volts if the engine turns over. If it don't turn over it should not drop any. Then do voltage drop tests on both the ground circuits and power circuits to the starter. If you are not familiar with those test let me know and I will walk you through them.
let me know,
Howard
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QUESTION: the battery is new & tests (volt meter) 12 volts. When testing the solenoid, does the red lead go to the terminal that the 3 wires connect & the black lead to any ground? Also, should the volt meter still be set to 12 volts on the dial. the accelerator/throttle cable fried last night when trying to start car. does this mean a bad ground & if so, where I can locate the bad ground
ANSWER: You found your problem. When you fry a throttle cable it is a 100% sure thing that you have NO ground between the engine and the (-) post of the battery. You must look at two ground straps but the one from the engine to the frame is the most likely since it liked the throttle as a ground.
The ground strap is either at one of the front motor mounts or bell housing to frame. If you don't find one buy one and install it. Do this first before any more testing.
Howard
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QUESTION: Howard,
You have been the most help I have gotten out of all the websites and forums i have been to. I have another questions for you. After your advise i finally got the car stated. However, I encountered a problem with the clutch. I think it is the clutch because i can physically shift the transmission into all the gears when the car is off. However, when the car is running and i push the clutch down, I cannot shift into any gear. The only gear i physically move the shifter into is reverse and then it does not go into gear it only grinds. I think it is not the transmission because when i turn the car off and shift the gear into 1st with the engine off and then start the car the car moves forward till i turn it off. The same is for reverse. Am i right? Also if it is the clutch, is it possibly to remove and replace the clutch without taking out the engine? All the manuals that i have read says to take out the engine. Thank again for all the help you have given so far.
ANSWER: It sounds like the clutch is not releasing. My first question is how does the pedal feel? There should only be no more than an inch of free travel before you feel strong resistance in the pedal and it should feel the same all the way to the floor. If this is true, and the car has been setting up for a long time, I would say the disk is stuck. If the pedal is soft and easy to push then you should bleed the air out of it. If it is firm and hard to push all the way to the floor there is one trick that we used that worked (2 out of 3 times) to brake loose a stuck clutch. It requires some skill in getting the RPM to match the speed.
You start the car in 1st gear and speed up on a long straight road that has very little traffic. and bump the gear lever into neutral then try to get the RPM to match what you think 2nd gear would be at that speed and pull it into 2nd gear and speed up again and bump the lever into neutral again and let the RPM down to what you think 3rd would be and push it into 3rd gear and do the same in 4th. So now you are in 4th gear. Speed up to as fast as the speed limit will allow and then depress the clutch pedal and hold it to the floor and step down hard on the throttle and let it up again and again, holding the clutch pedal to the floor. The maximum strain on a clutch to brake loose is at high RPM in high gear. THIS IS PROVIDING IT IS A STUCK CLUTCH NOT JUST A DRAGGING CLUTCH!!!!
If this does not brake it loose than you do have to remove the engine to gain access to the clutch.
This was a common job in the MG dealerships back then and most mechanics (before they were called technicians and paid less) could remove a "B" engine quickly. Not so much for the clutch but for the carbon release bearing. So if you have to remove it be sure to put in a new release bearing. (there are ball bearing release bearings available now)
To give you a benchmark for the time required to pull the engine, I was clocked by other mechanics in a dealership I worked in because I was doing it quicker than they were because I was the first in this shop to purchase a air powered ratchet. My time was 35 min. Every mechanic in the shop quickly bought air ratchets within a week. Normal time for a mechanic with only hand tools is from an hour to three hours.(providing no AC has been installed)
I have modified my MGB GT V-8 conversion to be able to remove the transmission from under the car because of the trouble removing a V-8 engine. This is not practical for a stock "B" as a lot of fabricating and welding is necessary.
Good luck, let me know.
Howard
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QUESTION: So i bled out the fluid out of the slave cylinder bleed screw and closed up and filled up the Clutch master cylinder with fluid. I tried pumping the clutch again. The clutch is still soft. The clutch moves the clutch master cylinder, however the slave cylinder does not push the arm to the transmission. Is the slave cylinder bad. If it is can i disconnect the slave cylinder and try cleaning out any stuff in the hydraulic arm or should i try to buy a new one. If it is not the slave cylinder is it the master cylinder? Thanks in advance for the great help.
ANSWER: When you bleed at the slave, you must be sure not to bleed until the reservoir is empty. If you allow the reservoir to go empty while bleeding you just take in more air into the system. Are you using DOT 4 fluid?
Try this, it is called reverse bleeding and sometimes works on difficult cars.
Fill the reservoir and go down to the slave bleeder valve and open the bleeder and allow it to just gravity bleed until the reservoir is down half way then close the bleeder. DON'T TOUCH THE CLUTCH PEDAL!!!
Now, take a pry bar and pry the transmission clutch arm against the slave cylinder so as to push the slave cylinder piston all the way back into it's bore.
This will push all of the fluid in the slave cylinder up into the master cylinder reservoir. Hold light pressure on the trans clutch arm so as to keep it into the slave cylinder. While holding pressure on it have someone press the clutch pedal down slowly to the floor. Have the other person tell you when the pedal is on the floor. That should have pushed your pry bar back. If it did release your pressure on the bar and have the other person let the clutch pedal up very slowly until it is all the way up. Then have them push the clutch pedal down again and hold light pressure against the clutch arm again so you can feel the movement. When the pedal is on the floor again release pressure on your pry bar and have the other person let the pedal up very slowly again. Repeat this until the clutch arm is against the transmission pressure plate. Then remove the pry bar and have the person pump the clutch in long slow movements. Slow on the push and very slow on the release.
This "very slow" release on the clutch pedal has to do with the design of the seals in the master cylinder. There is a strong spring pushing the piston toward the pedal and if you release the pedal too fast while bleeding it forms a low pressure area (vacuum) inside of the cylinder that is trying to draw new fluid down from the reservoir. The hole between the cylinder and the reservoir is small so fluid can't get through the hole quick enough and if the seals are worn the vacuum will draw air in around the seal rather than fluid down from the reservoir thus taking in air as fast as you bleed it out.
Let me know how you do. It is no use throwing money at the problem until you find out what the problem is.
Howard
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QUESTION: Hey Howard,
I appreciate how you are able to help me out more and more every week. I was able to get the clutch going with your advice on a reverse bleed. I was even able to take it around the block and see her shift and drive beautifully because of you. I promise ill send you pictures after the car is done and put back together. But all good things must come with bad things. I am having starting trouble again. The starter is clicking and the engine is trying to turn over. It just seems that there is not enough power to get the engine to turn over. I am able to start the car by jumping it and hooking it up to a battery charger on a quick start setting. The battery is new. Could it be the alternator. All the positive and negative cables are connected properly and tight. Is there a way i can test the alternator and see. The car running great other than the jump start it it needs to start the motor. As always any help would be greatly appreciated.
John
ANSWER: First put the battery on your charger on a low charge rate and leave it on for several hours. If a jump start works and the battery by itself doesn't then you need a volt/ohm meter. Put it across the battery and read battery voltage. You should see 12+ volts. Have someone try to start it and read the voltage. You should see 9 to 11 volts. and it should be spinning the engine over. Then set the volt meter to a low volt scale. zero to 5v or what ever low scale it has. put the negative lead on the negative post of the battery and the positive lead on the engine block and have someone try to start it. Then put the positive lead on the positive post of the battery and the negative lead on the battery connection of the starter solenoid and try to start it. You should not see much voltage one volt or less on the cable tests.
Start the engine with your jumper start system and remove the charger. Put the volt meter back on 12v scale and put the volt meter across the battery posts and set the RPM at a fast idle. You should see 13.8v to 14.5v if the alternator is working.
let me know what readings you get on each test.
Howard
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QUESTION: Hey Howard,
The car is running and minus the final tune up steps it is ready to go. I am bothering you today to ask about the VIN #. I am trying to restore my MG back to the original and need some help figuring out how to find out the interior and paint color for my car. I have a Body #, Vin #, and a Commission #. How do i decipher these numbers to find out the details on my car Thanks in advance.
John
ANSWER: For MGB not GT. Production date started 12/74, ended 8/75
The Vin # started with, GHN5/UF/368090
The Comm. # started with, G23N115009 (aprox.)
Body # started with, GU23T/7707
Engine # started with, 18V/797AEL101 (non OD)
I don't remember there being a paint code written on the car. Look on the ID plate on the inner right fender well under the hood.
I do have a paint code for different MG colors if you can look at a place where the original paint is and tell me the color as you can describe it, I can give you a paint code for that color.
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QUESTION: The color looks like a light “army green” & someone told me they call the color “British Racing Green”. I also need to find out the interior. The seats are a tan. I am not sure of the interior panels and carpet if they are tan also like the seats or the autumn color i have seen in ordering catalogs. There is one small panel that is left on the car that looks that color. Can the carpet be a different color than the interior panels?
AnswerThe "Army" green was called "Tundra", Factory code was BLVC 94, (RM# BM178) (DITZ# 44978) (DUP# 43278)
This color was used from 74 to 76
British Racing Green was a dark green and had no resemblance to Army green. There were two British Racing greens but they were only used from 64 to 70. There was a "New Racing Green" used in 71 and a "Brooklands Green" used from 76 to 80. There were a couple more greens but none use in 75.
As far as interior, if you are trying to restore to original, you need to cut a small corner off of the seat cover and off the back of a door panel and send it to Moss Motors to see if they can ID it, as they have upholstery kits in OE design.
Howard
