Steve P Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Doing a few bits to the Vitesse today,tried to start it for the first time in a couple of weeks due to work.It cranked slowly,that`s not unusual as it a fairly tight 2.5 high-ish compression.After about 15 seconds there was a smell of burning and smoke from under the bonnet,i found the lead to the starter from the solenoid overheating and the - terminal on the battery boiling hot.Any ideas? i thought maybe engine earth?.It has a high torque starter btw.Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hammond Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Engine Earth is a good place to start. Possibly faulty solenoid.Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 High resistance connection, I'd start with where the heat was being generated. It doesn't take much resistance when you are pulling 100s of Amps! (I2R)K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard B Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 You can run jump leads parallel to the earth or battery leads to see if they are at fault. Is the engine stiff to turn?Take the starter off the engine and see if it spins over ok?You can do without the starter solenoid as the Hi-Torque has its own one. You just need to run the thin White/Red starter wire down to the starter from where it terminates at the solenoid.Quite often the Hi-Torques fail due to erroded tags in solenoid. (but that causes a click and no cranking, rather than smoke, heating and burning). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve P Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 I had another look,the solenoid smells like burnt Bakelite,its a repro one.i think one of the terminal contacts is duff.I am going to do away with it and run new cables to the starter and ground the engine properly.Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nang Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Don't forget to put the smoke back in.(whistle)(whistle)(whistle)(whistle)(think)Tony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TedTaylor Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Quoted from nang Don't forget to put the smoke back in.(whistle)(whistle)(whistle)(whistle)(think)Tony. You could always try to get some NOS Lucas smoke off ebay ......... (evil) (woot)MUT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve P Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 Well i have removed the solenoid and made up a new heavy cable from the starter to the battery.I also removed the link wire on the starter and extended the red/white down to the starter.I have grounded the engine as well with the old solenoid cable.Now the car has no electrics,is the heavy brown wire on the solenoid the main fuse/ignition feed?,if so i will make a new one from the battery.CheersSteve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPearce Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Yes, the main feed to all the vehicle electrics (apart from the starter!) is a heavy brown wire and usually comes from the solenoid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpeg.b15b81ef10abeea1c3039ae03c4a9f3a.jpeg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.