John,
A few years ago, I went NUTS with a problem where the engine would not fire,
and yet I had power everywhere it should be. --but no spark. Replaced coil,
wires, distributor components etc. The list informed me that the kill switches
can short internally and the white/blk wire was grounding the coil through the
kill switch! The switch normally grounds the coil when the battery is cut
off. When the switch fails, sometimes the coil remains grounded when the
battery is reconnected. It sounds as though your switch failed partially some
time ago, and the PO corrected the problem by cutting the wire. The lack of
detent in the switch is another clue that this is the case.
There are faithful looking reproductions available, but I have been told that
they can be prone to the kind of internal failure described above.
David W. Jones
'62 Mk II BT7 tricarb
Cumberland, RI USA
----- Original Message -----
From: John Adamik
To: healey list
Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2004 4:17 PM
Subject: starter troubleshooting
Hello Listers,
isn't is strange how the healey knew that I was taking her for a "last of
the
season" ride when she decided not to start after gassing her up. It
sounded
like the starter pinion was spinning but not engaging the flywheel. I
tapped
the solenoid, no help. With a little help, I push started and ran fine.
Any
tips on testing the solenoid or any other suggestions?
Next, the kill switch in the boot no longer has a detent or positive
"click"
like it used to (found this when I checked battery connections for starter
problem). When I removed it, I noticed the white w/ black stripes wire
that
goes to the coil no longer connected to the switch, in fact it looks like
the
switch was broken some time ago where the wire connected. What does this
wire
do? It looks like it connects the coil to positive ground. Any suggestions
on
a replacement switch?
thanks for the help.
John '62 BT7
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