Hello all, my 2.0 72 bay has been standing for a while due to an o ring oil leak (now fixed), a house move, then run for 5 miles and then a month of standing again. Used it a few times for 10 mile round trips in the last few days and after the initial start, each further start up after driving it has struggling to start, each time slightly more difficult to turn over, as if the battery is on the way out. Today after ten miles and three stops, it finally gave up, but managed to bump it. Checked the battery voltage after parking and it’s on 12.6 volts. I had my alternator rebuilt in the last couple of years and the battery around the same time. I was supposed to be away in it this week but now in the Mrs car, so any ideas ready for next weekend when I get back? cheers jon
That’s a Saturday question. If after a week of standing I can get it to crank? I’ll check cranking amps and running voltage.
Just check the batt voltage when running to see if your alt is actually charging as a first step. 14V is good.
Same thing with my son's T25 at the moment. Switch the key, red battery light glows, start engine red light goes out. So alternator giving at least 12V. But the battery terminal volts with engine running is only 12.3V and the battery is nearly new and charges fine on an external charger. We checked the wiring and pulley belt tension all ok, we now suspect the alternator voltage regulator.
12.3V is no good. 13.5 - 14V, or the battery's not charging. Regulators are cheap enough, worth changing anyway.
With a running engine the voltage should rise up to 14.2 with reasonable RPM after a short while. Battery voltage while cranking is key: below 10 volts your battery is knackered, or bad battery wiring which may also affect charging ( but then you might see 14.2 volts engine running on the battery connector clamp but less if you measure between the tops of the battery terminal posts.) Buy a £20 battery tester off eBay, small enough to keep in the bus. (These measure the internal resistance of the battery and relate that to actual CCA, rather than using a big wire resistor to draw a massive current) Most likely not charging properly . Voltage regulator and new battery time. Make sure both your earth straps are good (gearbox front end and battery to chassis)
Started no problem after sitting for a week, checked running voltage on 14.4v, no one to help out today so couldn’t check cranking amps. Did a 10 mile round trip, tried to restart when home and very sluggish, so clearly hot starting issue. Checked oil level and there is a distinctive smell of petrol.
If the oil smells of petrol, you really shouldn't drive it any more as you can do a lot of damage (been down this route myself). Petrol in the oil can be many things including too high fuel pressure, carb floats, etc. I'm sure that there will be a post in there somewhere on further diagnosis.
Be careful not to confuse the hot start issue which is basically a bad ignition switch, and a half-siezed hot engine caused by running around with thinned oil/petrol mix. If you lose the oil film in the bearings, they start to melt. If it is still hard to crank when cold, and the battery voltage is good while cranking, then you may now have given yourself an expensively damaged engine after a 10 mile drive.. or it was already knackered and thats really why it was hard to crank in the first place. There have been people go all the way to getting a high torque starter when in fact the engine was partially siezed.
Cheers Mike, cold start is fine, hot it struggles. I’m going to check the carb floats but may need to pull the engine.
Ok then fit a hot start relay and/or ignition switch. If it ran OK, change the oil, run at idle for a bit to dilute the remaining oil in the galleries with clean oil, change again for perfection.. And fit a fuel shutoff solenoid, and if the carbs are Webers, get a pair of new fuel metering valves, as they wear out with vibration. Floats sinking could be an issue too. If its leaking into the float chambers (sunk floats, worn metering valves) the engine will go burbly at 30 mph in 4th on a flat road...and stall out at idle..
