Starter

Well having assured myself now that there was no basic fault with the car's electrical supply and restored function to most of the ancillaries, I had no more excuses, its time to venture under the bonnet to look at the starter problem!

The starter had been dead since I got the car: The scenario- turn on the key- all ign waning lights come on... click over to starter position and all dash lights dim but no sound and no movement from the motor! Obviously the battery had been my first suspect but this was now new (Exide high capacity) and fully charged. A poor earth was another and quite likely possibility so I ran a jumper lead from the starter body directly to the chassis- no difference. As I was sure battery positive supply was good (nice bright headlamps/lights) and the ign switch was obviously connecting something (power appeared at red/white lead on solenoid when switch activated) it was time to remove the starter.

...and here Dear Reader, begins to unfold a catalogue of woe. Prepare yourself for an account of superhuman strivings coupled with ultimate failure! An allegory perhaps for the human condition and the lot of all mankind!!

OK well maybe not that bad- first remove the starter- In most cases this process will start with removal of the airbox but as mine was conveniently already in the boot this was a help!

I disconnected the red/white lead at the spade connector on the solenoid and then removed the High current leads from the solenoid pole- one from the battery supply and one to alternator. These leads are connected via threaded copper studs but the nuts appear to be harder than the copper. The stud threads distort as the nuts are tightened and so undoing the nuts tends to strip the threads from the stud- This has happened routinely to me anyway and I can't find a way of preventing it. If anyone knows please let me know too! As it is I made a mental note to re-thread the studs at a later date. The motor is held on by just two bolts and a 17mm socket on a U/J plus a long extension got to them. Unfortunately these are bolts with non-captive heads, and you will need a stubby spanner to reach over the bell-housing and hold the heads from behind whilst you unscrew the nuts with the socket. Don't forget to support the motor with your third arm as it comes free!

The motor came off relatively easily, so over to the bench for a closer look.

Rear of starter motor- sideways though- oil filter towards top

Yes the starter really is down there! Solenoid top visible with heavy cables to solenoid bridge contact (red from Bty positive, Brown to alternator). Note red/white lead to solenoid coil

Applying the battery across the solenoid live to solenoid body- No noises or sign of life yet this should pull the solenoid cylinder backwards and pivot the starter pinion forwards via the lever action incorporated into the case. Solenoid not working!

Apply 12V across starter motor input (a bracket linking starter to solenoid) to motor case: Result- no movement! This should cause the motor to spin so the motor wasn't working either.

I always prefer to fix what I have so it was time to delve deeper. The solenoid detaches easily with 2x 10mm bolts. The body pulls off leaving the cylinder hooked on the lever arm with its external return spring- its simple to wiggle it off.

Solenoid removed from starter- note cylinder and external spring detached from pinion pivot

The solenoid wasn't in bad condition and was clean inside. Replacement base plates are available so I guessed this was the most likely problem. The plate is held on with two screws and two soldered connections. In my case one solder blob connected with the relay terminal spades (and hence the red/white wire) whilst the other was simply a blob of solder. I undid the screws and melted both blobs uncovering a bent copper wire inside each. Once this was straightened and provided the solder was removed or molten then the base plate simply pulled off.

Solenoid base showing solder blobs that need to be melted to remove.

Solenoid base cap removed. Note bridge contact inside and the two soldered wires protruding from the relay coils

I had expected to find something wrong with it but its a simple and robust construction with a spring-loaded bar or bridge contact to activate the motor. I reinserted the cylinder and applied current directly between the wire formerly connected to the spade and the case: nothing! I tried again using the other wire and the solenoid kicked back into the pot immediately. Ahah- I thought cracked it! The solenoid seems to contain two coils, one was shorted out but the second was still functional. I therefore rotated the solenoid base cap so that the second coil now contacted the relay spade terminal and resoldered it there. Fitted the screws and off to test... and yes there was now a definite movement in response to current. Feeling very pleased with myself I refitted the solenoid to the motor and activated the coil- this achieved a convulsive jerk from the solenoid but so weak it was unable to retract the cylinder against the return spring let alone move the starter pinion lever. Very disappointed!

Turning my attention to the starter itself a similar situation was uncovered in that the coils appeared to be shorting directly to earth and no movement was induced. Worryingly this failure in both units' coils suggested to me some catastrophe in the car's past where the motor has perhaps encountered some heavy resistance and simply burnt out on continued use? Clearly a worrying sign for the motor! I started to dismantle the thing to see if there was an obvious fault inside.

Starter minus solenoid- remove the two long through bolts

The armature in the motor is retained by a star washer under a rubber cap. Remove by bending the arms of the star up- if reusing this washer flatten it again in a vice before refitting by a tap with a suitably sized socket.

Star washer off- note oilite bush beneath- care this is quite brittle

The starter end cap then comes away (may need a tap with a soft mallet) but it remains connected to the coils via two soldered wires. If desired these can be unsoldered to remove. There are 4 brushes inside the motor end cap but in my case all were present, in good condition and fully long enough to make good contact with the commutator. There is a good exploded diagram here:

http://vintage.mitchell1.com/PClubData/chassis/elis82/V2I823045.pdf

It wasn't clear how to remove the starter pinion so I didn't dismantle it further. It was already clear that there was no obvious problem with the pinion engagement assembly.

There is a comprehensive account of how to test a starter motor in the Lucas fault finding guide... and  obviously anything made by man can be fixed fixed by man, or woman for that matter, but there is always a question of feasibility. New coils for the starter motor alone are around £45 whilst a bearing and brush rebuild kit is over £50! That would still leave the solenoid unfixed so reluctantly I had to conclude that repair just isn't economic in this case and

These older Excels had the Lucas 3M100 starter- which are readily available having been fitted to a number of cars and they are also cheap. They do however draw a large current and turn over relatively slowly. Newer Excels were fitted with a "geared" starter motor with a range of gears that allowed increased turning speed with a lower current consumption. The greater torque of these motors is really needed on the hc engines and its a useful upgrade even to the lc versions like mine- but the downside is that they are more expensive and harder to come by as used items. I may upgrade one day but for the time being  I just ordered a used 3M100 starter motor/solenoid combi for £40 inc postage!

It's not very “green” to bin repairable parts like this and I don't like doing it but what choice is there? The economics are wrongly biased in favour of replacement rather than repair with the cost of a new assembly coming in around  half the cost of the component parts bought separately!... but I'm not going to change that alone. This struggle between my wallet and conscience will be I think a recurring theme!

So- Dear Reader there is a moral and a lesson in these columns and that is if the guy selling your car keeps saying "I must be honest...." then he probably isn't so go with your gut no matter how much you might want the car! Me myself, I have always had too much faith in human nature- this in turn means that the unscrupulous can see the word “Gullible” as if tattooed on my forehead. I don't blame the LBPO - no-one forced me to offer what I offered and I did have my doubts over his unlikely story anyway- so caveat emptor and this emptor will certainly have more caveat in the future! Suffice it to say I would never use his plumbing company!

Anyway according to the account I was given the car was running when put into storage and needed only a weekend or so to recommission...

Up to this point I had been making progress with the car- I was even beginning to think about suspension steering and transmission items since it was suggested that all I needed to do was to replace the few missing items- bit of adjustment and the thing would fire up. So it was with a mixture of excitement, nerves and anticipation that I unpacked my replacement starter motor. Bit disappointed- you would think Lotusbits might have cleaned it up a bit, and it was certainly stiffer and more chipped and clunky than my own BUT it did at least turn when connected to a battery- a vital difference I concluded.

So in with the new starter- it wasn't exactly a flush fit but close enough for a test so with trepidation I tried to turn the engine over...

YES!! Movement and the engine cranked,  but really at no faster than I could have turned it by hand! However, it was turning and so time to try the compression tester. True compression tests should be done on a warm engine (not possible in this case) and the cranking speed should be around 200 rpm (I must be around 10) but even so it was time to try!

How awkward is it to access the plugs and the compression testing plug/air connection down in the valley between the camshaft housings? However I managed, and cranked over the motor. Cylinder 1- 30 psi!! I could hear a faint popping on each compression but the readings didn't improve. Cylinder two was marginally better at 60 psi but three and four had no detectable compression whatsoever and I couldnt even hear anything sounding like compression on those two. True I am turning over rather slowly, but I can get decent readings just kicking over motorcycles so there is clearly something very wrong with this motor. In conclusion there can be NO WAY that this car was running when put into storage! I had already worried that there might have been a blown head gasket because of the coolant leaks, but this is perhaps much worse than a gasket could cause.

Well the head will have to come off but so far anything from missing valves to cracked liners is a possibility and to be frank there now have to be doubts as to my ability to fix this- perhaps it will simply be another uneconomic repair as above. This isn't going to be anything I can sort quickly so I will think about other bits and pieces while I work out what to do.

**Note added much later. The motor turned out to have had a cambelt problem and as I worked on it showed more and more signs of having been taken apart and then put back together hastily for a sale by the LBPO .....  All exhaust valves were bent- a couple so badly that they were jammed open. I think the previous motor was burnt out trying to turn against these jammed valves so probably irreparable without new coils. It also (probably) explains the ponderously slow turn over achieved by the new motor. Hopefully that will improve when the problem is sorted and the motor fixed. NOTE here though- when you look at a non-running car the fact that you can turn it over doesn't mean its not got a serious problem!"