MGF Starting problems

[Blobby-MGF]

Hi all,
Newbie here so appologies if this has been asked and answered before !

My MGF 1.8 2000 has just developed a starting problem -

The ignition lights are all on
Turn the key there is a sort of click and all the lights go out
Resetting the battery all the lights come back on
I have checked the main battery feed to the starter, all good
I have checked the trigger feed, all good

Starts ok with a push btw

Any ideas guys ?

[nigelandjo]

Sounds like the battery is in need of a charge.

[Blobby-MGF]

Thanks for the reply, battery has full charge, checked before and after ?

[nigelandjo]

In that case have you checked the earth straps?

[Blobby-MGF]

The earth strap to the battery is good, the earth return via the chassis is good, is there another I should be checking ?
Could it be the starter relay ?

[talkingcars]

Hi and welcome to the forum

What do you mean by "resetting the battery"

James

[Mykel]

If it were the starter relay there would be no clicking sound at all and the voltage wouldn't collapse. Also, you wouldn’t get a 12v trigger to the starter motor solenoid, which you said is good.

There is another earth strap from the engine block to the rear bulkhead.

Still from your description I would suspect it’s a faulty battery. If some of the cells are defective it may still show full voltage but this will break in the moment you draw any reasonable current.

- have you measured the voltage under load from the starter motor?
- have you tried jump leads from another car?
- as per James’s post, how do you “reset” a battery?

[Blobby-MGF]

Thanks for the responses guys

There is an isolator key which is what I referred to as resetting the battery.

I will have the battery checked but I did try to starts the will a jump and it showed the same results

I will also look for the earth strap to check it for corrosion etc

Cheers

[Mykel]

Hm, burnt out starter motor maybe? Never had that before but there’s always a first time.

[talkingcars]

Isolator key?

Is this an after market thing?
If so is it possible to remove it and connect the wires from either side?

[Blobby-MGF]

It is aftermarket yes, cables removed and bolted together, still the same I’m afraid.
I’ve ordered a replacement relay pack to try now

[Blobby-MGF]

Update -

Checked the earth strap to the engine and appears ok, disconnected it an connected an earth back to the battery from the engine and starter motor kicked in fine ?

[talkingcars]

That's good news.

[Blobby-MGF]

Thanks for all your help guys, have I told you how much I hate electrics !