Please Help! cant get nova sr running

[greg1.4]

hi, please help me..this problem is doing my head in..i was about to sell/break the car this morning..:mad:

Right, it was a 1992 J reg 1.2 carburettor engine..i swapped the engine for a 1300 sr engine, everything was ok, it ran perfect for about a month then one day it wouldnt start. I found out it was the wiring (big red wire) from battery to starter had melted.. so i took the old wires out (was a small loom including negative wire from battery terminal and live wire from battery terminal to the starter/alternator..

i then kind of made my own loom..which was a negative from the battery to the starter motor mounting bolt..i ALSO have a negative (earth) wire from battery to the bulkhead..should i have both of these? i put a live wire from battery to the big terminal on the starter and the other onto the alternator..

IS THERE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THIS WIRING I HAVE DONE??

so anyway after that the car started and ran for another month or two and then it started to turn over really slowly and eventually there was nothing..YES THE BATTERY IS GOOD!! i replaced the starter and it started no problems..after that i thought i would have no more trouble..until now..

i have had 5 different starter motors in (1200 carb'd starter, 1300 sr starter, 1400 sri starter, 1200 spi starter, 1400 spi starter and not one of them has lasted more than a day.

they either didnt work or the worked but stopped working later that day or the next day..

i have also got a earth from the gearbox to the chassis.. its ok..and i have also tried jump leads from the engine to the chassis..didnt help..

if any of you guys can help me i will be really grateful as i have had enough of this problem/nova..:thumb:

[lee coley]

earth strap from gear box to body?

edit read the full fukcing post

[Adam]

Yes that wiring is fine.
The earth from the batt to the bulkhead/firewall is the main car shell earth.
The one to the starter motor is the engine earth.

Is the engine a standard 1300?
Perhaps its got a high cr, and its putting the motors under a lot of stress...
I cant see another reason why starters would keep dying tbh. Have you tried the "knackered" starter off the car, and see if it works then with a spare battery?

[meritlover]

how long have you been cranking the engine over? you must not over heat the motor.

also, have you tried by-passing the solenoid and checking the motor spins. it may be the key switch that is broken and scared.

even with a high CR it still should not burn the motors unless you are a stupid.

[greg1.4]

its a 1300 block, 1200 head, 1300 carb and inlet, 1300 manifold and magnex exhaust..thats it..the only thing i can think is wrong is the 1200 head (upsetting the compression)

and i am not turning it over that long..maybe 3 or 4 seconds and then try it again a few minutes later..

surely it cant be compression as some starters i put in was perfect (for a day or two:confused: ).. the car started no problems with them starter in it, turning over really quick and not turning slow at all..

[Adam]

When you remove the starters that stop working, test them off the car and see if they work then....

[garyc]

1st thing I would do is see if you can turn the motor over by hand. try a 17mm spanner on the front pulley and turn it clockwise.

When you turn the starter over for 4 secs does it get hot?

If you can do that I'd remove the geabox and see whats happening that side, measure the fly wheel diameter and see if anything looks incorrect eg heated or worn.

I wouldnt worry about the CR if I were you as you have to have a lot of machining work to get it high enough to give any problems.

[just vaux trev]

i had the same probs with my 2.0 8 valve but when i turn the ign on and start it off the starter motor it's fine again for a while

[mowgli]

there could be a flywheel/starter incompatability thing or the ign switch is continually running the starter when the engine is switched on. try testing the wire to the solenoid

[greg1.4]

right i have tried a wire from the positive battery terminal to starter when ignition is on and its just doing the same..so it is not the exciter wire.

i can also turn the engine over with a 17mm spanner..

i think all i can do is buy a brand new complete starter, fit it and then see what happens..

[garyc]

I once bought a new starter and it turned out to be a external cut out switch which would give voltage but wouldnt turn over the motor. Are you running the normal ignition key or have you wired something up your self?

If you've fried 5 I wouldnt put another on. but do some more investigating.