Poor Starting .

[Arfron]

Help please ? My Morris 1000 starts reasonably well when cold , but after a short run around town ,or maybe a few miles , the engine proves very difficult to start again . The problem re- occured today , but the engine 'bump - started' , when I put it the gearbox into third gear -- on a very short run down the drive -engine started - into garage - narrowly missing the work bench !! Any ideas guys / gals ?? Thanks Arfron ( Happy New Year everyone !! )

[turbominor]

So Afron, it is hard to start with starter but bump starts ok?

that would point me to electrical problems. Does it turn over ok when hot if it struggles check :-

I would measure the battery voltage and check it is ok maybe it is not charging well and struggles to restart after short run..

Check all the connections from battery to starter (via solonied) and all earths.

Check the points and connections are ok.

If every thing is ok, and it still turns over slow are you loosing any water as my last golf had a slow head gasket leak that made it hard to start hot as water was getting in.

If it turns over ok but wont start check the ignition system ( have you recently replaced coil/points/condencer as they could be on way out)

Also is fuel pump and carb in good order

[Arfron]

The starter motor turns over correctly, but the engine just fails to fire -up after a run. Maybe I had better change the points + condenser . It's strange , once it's going there are no problems , it's just re-statring when hot ! Thanks for the advice - appreciated . Arfron

[maxwoods]

I had a similar problem once - went through everything, but could not get to the bottom of it - I called the RAC out and the patrolman tested the coil and found it to be breaking down. It was certainly getting very hot. Changed coil, no probs thereafter.


Max

[Arfron]

Thanks for that , Maxwoods . Strangely enough , I felt the coil after usage today and it felt fairly hot-- maybe that's what it is ? ( How do you test a coil ?? ) It seems like something is breaking down ?? Will swop the coil with a spare + see what happens . Cheers Arfron

[grainger]

sounds like it could be running too rich or at least yr choke is sticking on maybe ... mine has been

cheers
grainger

[turbominor]

I felt the coil after usage today and it felt fairly hot

most coils will get fairly warm.. I have a lucas sports coil and it gets realy hot after a long drive

( How do you test a coil ?? )

Use an ohmmeter, check the resistance between the side terminals of the coil. Do this with all of the wires to the coil disconnected.

You should see 0.75 to 0.81 ohm of resistance. Then check the resistance between either side terminal and the center high tension terminal. The reading should be 10,000 to 11,000 ohms. Any significant deviation from these numbers would indicate that the coil is defective.