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MG MGB Technical - Starters

Does anyone have any suggestions choosing a starter?
1977 MGB, Started, then died with the awful clicking sound and a charged battery.
Chris

That awful clicking sound is the sign of low voltage to the starter. It can be a bad battery- A dead battery or poor connections.
Sandy Sanders

Make sure both ends of each battery cable and the engine to chassis strap are clean and secure. Check the cables for corrosion and resistance. How did you verify the battery is fully charged?
Kimberly

On the V8 at least a chattering starter is often caused by heat damage to the solenoid which is very close to one of the down-pipes. That shouldn't really be the case with the 4-cylinder but could be. The cause is much more likely to be low voltage at the starter due to battery or connections as already stated. You can check you connections with a voltmeter, connecting the +ve probe to the positive *post* of the battery (not its connector) and the -ve probe to the battery cable stud on the solenoid. With the coil disconnected crank, and measure the voltage. Ideally it will only be about 2 or 3 tenths of a volt, but could be 3 volts or more in bad cases. Do the same from the -ve battery post to the starter body but reversing the meter connections, and do the link cable as well on twin 6v batteries. Check the battery by going across the posts (one at a time in the case of twin 6v) and measuring while cranking. A good battery should show 10v (5v on a 6v).
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed on 27/05/2008

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.