Dean,
As long as your tranny tunnel is off, you can check the wiring and solenoid
as follows (a bit generic since I don't have the manual in front of me):
Solenoid disconnected from all wires: a very low resistance. (Infinite =
bad solenoid)
Power to Solenoid: Ignition on, tranny in 3rd or 4th (remember it only
works in those gears), 12V to frame from at least one of the wires.
Return line: zero resistance to frame.
+++++
Are all the motor's grounds hooked up? Especially the one from the bell
housing to the scuttle. Its a good time to check them for tightness and
cleanliness.
Also, have you verified that the gearshift switch wires haven't fallen
apart again?
Atwell Haines
'79 Spitfire
At 03:34 PM 3/1/99 -0000, Dean Dashwood wrote:
>Hello list!
>
>Recently, the J-type overdrive on my Spitfire stopped working - it
>wouldn't engage. So I checked the Haynes manual which said that the
>likely causes are low gearbox oil, faulty wires and faulty solenoid. So
>I checked the wires on the switch - and as I took the switch off, all
>the wiring fell apart! Ok, I thought, that's the problem. So I
>re-wired the switch, and it worked - for about 3 days, then it stopped
>again.
>
>I checked the wires in the switch - still good, so I decided to take off
>the gearbox tunnel and check out the rest of the wiring. Again, it fell
>apart as soon as I touched it. So I sorted all that out, checked the
>gearbox oil while I was there (it was fine) and put everything back
>together again, expecting the problem to be cured. But it still doesn't
>work!
>
>Seems like I might need to replace the solenoid. But solenoids don't
>come cheap, and I'd like to know that this is what's wrong before I
>cough up the cash.
>
>Does anyone know how to test a solenoid? Is this a really stupid
>question - is it obvious whether it's working or not? I have absolutely
>no idea, and Haynes does an excellent job of completely avoiding the
>issue!
>
>I'd appreciate any advice anyone has!
>
>Cheers,
>
>Dean Dashwood
>'77 Spit 1500 (doing 4000rpm on the motorway)
>
>
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