All:
I cant believe the help I received from folks all over the world on my TR3
starter problem. The Jag XKers came through, and during the process, I
also found a list of TR folks. All in all, I had eighteen (18!) folks
offering advice, and many of those corresponded more than once. My sincere
appreciation to you all.
Now, down to business. This is what I did:
1. Cleaned all of the grounds (batt to chassis and batt to block);
2. Cleaned connection from solenoid to SM
3. Jumped from batt to SM to take solenoid out of the picture;
4. Cussed a little;
5. Put the car in 4th gear and rocked it to see if the motor turned (it
did);
6. Removed quick disconnect from neg term of batt to see if that had some
effect (no);
7. Cleaned batt terms;
8. Retrieved my batt charger from my son-in-law and found that the new
batt had about 25% charge. Recharged batt and tried again. No go.
9. Did NOT conduct the test where you pull the starter and place it on the
garage floor, then jumper it to the battery. I had visions of someone
losing control of a wide-open fire hose - didn't want to chase the starter
down the street.
10. After raising the car on jack stands, put it in 4th again, and turned
both rear wheels just like silk.
After exhausting every possible lead folks gave me, I finally pulled the SM
(I could see this would be a %$#@#$% of a job with all the engine plumbing
in place. It was.) The paint between the SM and engine flange to the bell
housing is absolutely pristine. When I told the engine restorer that I
wanted the block painted tan (yes, I know - it's weird but looks better than
you might think), he must have dipped the block in a 55 gallon drum of
engine enamel. Whatever that stuff is (spring, and gears and junk) that
sticks out of the business end of the SM looks like new machining. It is
very nice.
So, the engine block flange to the SM and the bell housing is probably well
insulated by engine block paint (tan) and the only possible ground it could
have would be via the two bolts that hold the SM to the bell housing through
the block flange. I can get the paint off of the SM side of the block
flange, but I can't separate the bell housing from the block. So, what do
you think about putting a wire ground between the SM and the bell housing?
By the way, I'm going to take the SM to the electrical shop tomorrow for a
checkup, anyway. I had to fabricate an 18" long, 14mm wrench out of folded
20 gauge sheet metal to remove the top bolt on the SM, so I'm inclined to
leave no stone unturned at this point. Most of you replied off list, so I
am sending this to the two lists (xkers and TRs) and sending blind copies
to each of you.
Many thanks for your suggestions, and I will keep you posted hopefully, on
my eventual success.
Dave
PS: It was about 95 degrees (F) in my garage all weekend, and I'm really
pooped. This retirement business is wearing me out. Sure glad that I don't
have to go to work tomorrow:-)
David Dressel
Champaign, IL USA
'67 Mk2 3.4 Auto
'60 TR3A
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