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MG TD TF 1500 - problems starting TD

Hello all, I just found this site. My dad passed away a couple years ago and I inherited his '53 TD. I just had to move it out of his house, and I can't get it running. I have a couple more modern, American cars, so I'm plenty familiar with car mechanics, but I know next to nothing about this MG.

Here's what I've found so far: It has gas in the tank, a good battery, and turns over fine. It doesn't seem to be firing, though. I pulled the distributor cap, and tried to watch the points. it doesn't seem like they are opening and closing. I put a VOM on it, and it seems to always be grounded, even if I manually open the points.

Can you guys give me some direction in trying to get this thing running? It ran last year when a new started was put in. One other point of interest: when I pulled the air cleaner, it was half full of oil. that's not normal is it? could the crankcase be overfilled?

dave thieben

Dave,
Where in Ohio are you?
Sounds like you may not be getting voltage to the coil? With the key in "on" poss do you hear a "ticking sound"? (fuel pumps on these old "T's" make a loud ticking sound when getting voltage).
Because these cars are so easy to hot-wire,
many of us have installed hidden "cut-off switches" as protection! (Some installed just on fuel pump...some on coil wire as well.) Could be a good place to start looking.
Aslo if the car has not been "changed over" the TD is a possitive ground auto, did you install a new battery?
If you don't have manuals and are near Columbus...let me know, I am not a mechanic ...but maybe able to help you understand this lil car a bit. (Not much to them!)
The air cleaner on the TD is indeed a "oil-bath" type so that is normall!
You have come to the right place for answers...but keep checking back...many of the "pro's" are still on their way home from a large 5 day MG show that ended in TN. on Sunday!
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

Thanks for the quick response! I'm in Dayton.

Yes, the fuel pump is clicking. There is also voltage at the coil. It seems to be still positive ground, since the ground cable is attached to the positive terminal.

The cut-off switch is a good point. I'll have to check for that. I'd be a little embarrassed if it fired right up. :D

dave thieben

Dave - If the gas in the tank has been in there for several years, you should drain it out and replace it with fresh gas. The old gas could be so stale that it won't ignite even when you do get a spark. Another thing to check is the spring for the points that is attached to the square headed screw terminal that goes through the side of the distributor. If that spring is touching the side of the distributor, instead of being insulated from it, it will keep the points from working properly. Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

You are on the right track. With the volt meter on the distributor teminal, it should show zero with the points closed, and then 12v when open, remembering your positive lead should be grounded. If there is never voltage, either the points themselves, the condenser, or something in the terminal area is shorted. Take the wire off of the distributor terminal, and make sure you have 12v there. If not, trace back to the coil. Both sides of the coil should show voltage with the dist. to coil wire disconnected, key on of course. If not, bad coil. If you do have juice at the dist. wire from just unhooking it, then one of the above things or stuff David mentions are likely. George
George Butz

Dave,
One thing you will notice on this BBS...there seem's to be a lot of "Dave's"....uh, right Dave! LOL!
I'm not too far away (about 30 miles east of Columbus). I used to live in Huber Heights.
Do you have a wiring diagram? (or manual?)
IF not fire me an email off line and I can get a wiring diagram to you.
Give me a vin# as there are several diagrams in my manual dependent on when the car was made. (53 would no doubt be a late TD with turn signals).
One thing you have to know is back in the 50's a lot of these cars got titled as to year they were "sold" not the year they were "built". Although I refer to my TF as a "55" it was actually built in Oct. of 1954.
YOU are in the right place...we will get her back on the road!
You are about to meet a whole bunch of people that take that as a personall challange!
Weak coils are a common problem as well what George said...(sometimes we dave's allow a George to join in on our all dave BBS! ...kidding..) also another really stupid source of ign problems are the horid "after-market" wire kits that have been made for these cars! I re-placed 2 coils before I figured what looked like new wires were junk!
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

Dave -- Of course you have to find out why there is no voltage across the points when they are open first(short somewhere) or open coil primary. I'm suprised that nobody has mentioned that the points may, after all these years, have corrosion on them and are not making a connection.

So you may well have two problems which really compounds the troubleshooting.

Keep us informed as to your progress in getting the car up and running.
Cheers,
Bob
R. K. (Bob) Jeffers

The one thing that has continued to surprise me is how one thing can go wrong, and another component unrelated to the first is also in need of attention. 'Why, if I had a nickel for everytime I've said "naw...can't be that..... It has nothing to do with the other....."' ('scuse me...am going to look for some chewing tobacco).
gordon lawson - TD 27667

If the points don't look like they are opening, they aren't. It's pretty easy to see that. But if you manually open them and still no spark, there's a common mistake made with the fiber washers on the points post, under the nut there. If you replaced them, it's a good bet that's the problem. I've done it twice, probably will again before I leave this world. The points have to be insulated from this post, or they're always grounded, no spark.

I hope that's it. But if it's not, it will be something relatively easy to resolve. Hang in there, you'll be motoring along in no time. I wish my Dad would have left me one.
Tom

Oh yeah. Is the gas fresh? Just a good idea to have that.
Tom

This thread was discussed between 26/06/2006 and 27/06/2006

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