Electricity hey? Can't live with it, can't throw it in the bin...
So I felt my starting problems were electrical but I couldn't work out why. Then I came across a diagram showing a typical alternator /battery/starter motor setup and I realised that the starter motor has a 12v input but no obvious earth - it is earthed through its body and the engine block.
To test this, I taped a ring terminal from the body of the starter motor to the negative terminal of the battery:
Voila! Starter motor sounded much healthier and instant engine start!
So, bad engine earth, you say? I had already removed that earth and cleaned it up but, Ok, let's try again. Engine earth looks like this at each end:
Removed it completely, connected my temporary wire to the hole in the chassis and still started fine, suggesting the earth point is ok. However, for a laugh, I then removed the wire completely, with the earth cable disconnected and, guess what?
Yeah, engine still started fine.
So my engine earth is doing bugger all? Maybe the alternator needs it but it is probably earthing the same way the starter motor is, wherever the Hell that is (gearbox, propshaft, diff?).
I'm getting close to the hair-removal-while-screaming stage... 😕
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