Morris Minor Owners Club

I have recently experienced a strange fault. There were a couple of odd sounding starts, followed by the starter motor failing completely (dead ignition), followed by the van not starting but starter motor just whizzing around making a right racket. The noise continued while the ignition was off and I could only stop it by pulling the lead off the battery. . I suspect either ignition switch, solenoid or starter motor to be faulty. I am going to take the starter motor off first and take a look. If anyone has any ideas please let me know, thanks.

I'm guessing the solenoid has jammed in (most unusual!) - and possibly it has ruined the starter motor bendix drive if it was running against the flywheel ring-gear.

Yes, it does sound as though the solenoid is sticking. It is unusual, but not unheard of.

Maybe a recon starter/solenoid in order?

It's probably worth a quick check on the battery leads and earth strap also, as that amount of current flowing through for a length of time shows up any weakness in that area.

Andrew

Thanks for that.

I have taken the starter motor off, but all seems OK when checked against the workshop manual. Flywheel is OK (no teeth missing). It also runs OK when started off the handle. Is there any way of checking the solenoid?

Just try it! You would need a meter to test it out otherwise. But the ONLY way the starter can run with Ign OFF - is if the solenoid is either stuck in, or still being energised by the ign switch. You could take the little feed wire off the solenoid - and test if it is live? And then also test the solenoid to see if it's output terminal is live all the time.