Thanks to lurking 'round the recent braking problems thread, my car has
almost achieved perfect braking (new stainless lines, lots of bleeding -
all thats left is to install a new master cylinder). Thanks to everyone
who contributed. Now, onto the next problem.
Sometimes (stupid intermittant problems!) my car will not start when hot.
Usually, the starter motor will crank the engine once or twice then 'jam,'
exactly like a dead battery. In this case, I can give a quick push and
bump start and she runs just fine, making me suspect the starter motor may
be shot and that I should recheck all the grounds (they should be good,
I've had a go at them before). The battery is pretty new, 6 months tops,
and has a good 12.5 volts while the car is playing dead. Is there a good
way to test the starter motor itself? Is it likely to fail such that it
works fine when cold but not when hot? Is there another place I should be
looking for my problems? I feel the engine is on borrowed time ever since
I dropped a valve losing who knows how many metal chips into it - could
the jamming when hot be a sign of serious internal problems (bearings)?
Now the problem has gotten a little worse. Last night the car refused to
even bump start. I had spark, the plugs were dry (not flooded), fuel was
at the carb fuel line connection and spraying in some starter fluid didn't
help, not even one cough the whole time I was fiddling away. But this
morning, while cold, I pulled out the choke and she started right up (when
I had the auto choke blanked off, starter fluid was required for starting
when cold, hence the manual conversion).
The truly unfortunate part of this problem is it usual manifests while I'm
running my wife on errands. Even as light as my car is, after a few
pushing incidents, I've noticed a line item appear in the monthly budget
labled "Car Replacement Fund," and we only have one car... I'm currently
ready to replace the starter motor or even carb if it is likely to help (I
can raid the replacement fund for cash;), but am hoping the collective
wisdom can help me aim a bit better and get this fixed quick.
TIA
John Weale
1980 "British Racing Orange" Spitfire
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