Hi all,

Thought I'd share my latest grudge battle with my Charlston.

Starting problem started a few weeks ago: some mornings on the button, then next day, especially if damp, a long drawn out pull on the starter. Some times I saved the starter's life and gave up for the day.

To cut a fairly long story short, I think I may have cured the problem. The spark at the plug when testing was quite weak, no sharp crack there. I checked the voltage at the live coil terminal and found it was 1 volt lower than the battery voltage. There is a connector further up stream and the voltage drop was there. Battery side was 12v the other side 11v. A slight crimp and 12v was at the coil again.

I assume a coil fed 11volts will have reduced output. Anyway, the starting is instant again so I'm hoping it's fixed.

Seems to confirm that even if terminals and connectors look ok they may be the cause of problems.

Hope this may be of help to someone.

Good find

Just a heads up though. A battery that is showing 12v is thought to only be about 50% charged. When cranking, that voltage is going to drop even further.

Edit

A further test is to measure the voltage with the multimeter + on the battery pillar (not the clamp), and the negative on the engine block.

I agree about the voltage in a battery. A 12v unit should be sitting at 12.8v 'resting' (that's at least a few hours after the engine last ran and always good to check daily). The 6v battery in my 1932 Minor sits at 6.4v.

Talking of 90-year-old Minors, I've just used it to do the weekly shopping for a change. It's been sat in the garage since Christmas and fired up immediately and performed faultlessly there and back (around 7 miles in all).

--------------------------------------------------------------
Could you please pinpoint the dubious connection in question?
A photo of it would be usefull.

Thanks for the info. Is that pix of a complete 2cv wiring loom?

The connector on my car is not part of that loom. An extra wire has been added from the coil feed to the points assist unit.

I should have been more acurate about the battery voltage. I used 12v down to 11v to show the drop in voltage, whereas the actual voltage after a short run shows 13v at rest. It is a recent new battery.

It is only the front wiring harness, responsible for everything in the engine compartment and the dashboard.
http://www.entmontage.de/elektrik_e.htm
So it was an extra aftermarket connector? A photo would be nice.

As you can see, the wiring to the coil is not standard but even so, the conectors are newish.

I think I can certainly see now the suspect connector(s).