Triumph Repair: stranded, Spitfire, Solenoid

Question
I have a 73 1500.  Once in a while it won't start, I just get the "click" similar to a dead battery.  Most times it will start after sitting for a few minutes but now dead in the driveway.  I've gotten all sorts of input from different mechanics from ignition switch to solenoid to battery cables but most are guesses.  I don't want to replace the entire electrical system as one has suggested, nor have it the car tied up in the garage for weeks.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Dennis,

There are basically 5 different problems that will cause the problem you describe:

1)  Low battery
2)  Bad electrical connnections (battery leads, solenoid leads)
3)  Bad solenoid
4)  Bad starter
5)  Starter locked into the flywheel

With any car that's 35 years old it's possible to have components fail, especially electrical contacts.  An inexpensive multimeter and a friend (or long test leads) can trace the problem down quickly.

Working through the list,

1)  Battery.  At rest, a battery in good condition should show at least 12.5 volts.  With an assistant holding the voltmeter leads on the battery, try to crank the engine and see if the voltage drops.  If not a major drop (2-4 volts) then it's something else in the electrical system.

2)  Bad electrical connections.  It's worth pulling the connectors off of the battery terminals and giving them a good cleaning.  It's also not a bad idea to clean the other ends of the battery cables if they look a bit corroded.  The solenoid trigger lead (white/red wire) is critical and needs a good clean connection at the solenoid also.

About the only way to test the connections is to try to crank for a few seconds and see if any of the connections get warm.  That's a sign of corrosion or dirt causing resistance.

3)  Solenoid.  Most likely culprit.  Using the voltmeter verify that the main post from the battery has full battery voltage.  Then while having your assistant hold the voltmeter lead on the other large post (starter side) you should see voltage on that post.  If not the solenoid connections are bad.   A common replacement for the standard solenoid is a Ford unit.

4)  Starter bad.  Well, if you've traced voltage all the way to the starter lead then it's possible the starter is bad,

or

5)  Starter locked into the flywheel.   Sometimes the teeth on the starter and the flywheel don't quite mesh right and it can lock the engine.  Simple test?  Put the trans in neutral and try to spin the engine by hand, either using the crank pulley nut (1 13/16" socket required) or buy grabbing the fan blade and and alternator belt and gently trying to spin the engine.  If it spins.. you're back to the starter being bad.  If the engine doesn't spin then you can try to rock the car back and forth in 3rd gear, or unbolt the starter to free things up.

Let me know what you find.


Cheers,

Jim