Morris Minor Owners Club

I have replaced the brushes and serviced the starter motor but occasionally- on a fully charged battery, the engine struggles to turn over at start-up. Even when the engine is warn when it spins over easilymost of the time, it will, occasionally struggle to start the motor.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Might it be timing?
Might it be something out of alignment?
Any suggestions most welcome and thanks as always

If you've serviced the starter and all was fine ( no chewed up teeth on the pinion ? ) then checking solenoid to starter cable and earth connections would be top of my list.
Battery disconnected first,cables " sound / not frayed ? Clean up the connection ends and replace.Earth cables (2) engine to body and gearbox to body....both still in place ? ( gearbox is favourite for not being replaced after gearbox or clutch work ).Worth removing nuts and sandpapering connections.Degrease the wooven / plaited type earth strap if covered with old oil/ grease.
You said it was ..only occaisionally...so it's unlikely to be timing.
Out of alignment....was there any wobble in the main shaft when you replaced the brushes ?
Was the any evidence of damage to the ring gear teeth, on the flywheel, with the starter motor removed ?
If there were chewed up teeth, on the pinion, there might be corresponding wear on the ring gear but try the connections route first and see what the results are.
Bob

If the starter kind of stops occasionally the the ignition is probably a tad over advanced, You could try turning the knurled wheel on the distributor towards R and see if that is enough to sort it out.
Otherwise sort out the ignition timing.

Does sound like bad connections. Try a spare starter if all else fails.

Could even be a worn solenoid

My money would be on bad battery and earth connections.
Had the same problem on my MGB and a second earth strap to the engine cured it.

Down to bad connection - second earth srap (that I thought i had done already) cured it . Many thanks fdor all you help. On to the next problem

As they say a result ! Onwards and upwards.
Bob