Davo

That sounds likely not sure why I thought putting oil where the plugs go wouldn’t be a problem. Lol. I think I’ll try just to keep it running long enough to get up to temperature to do another test then change the plugs. I don’t think it was massively under anyway - around 130 cold and only marginally down on cylinder 2.

So I started doing a compression test on my 2l pinto. I noticed that cylinder 2 was slightly down on compression and on advice dropped a little oil in and sure enough the pressure reading increased. It’s not starting comfortably now although just about got there in the end. Dumb question, would that be because of the oil in the cylinder? Is that a good or bad thing to do?

I only ask because it sounded similar to a problem I had which turned out to be a cam timing issue. It only cost me a new carb, new coil, new dizzy, plugs and leads to get there! It’s a bit like triggers broom now I’m a real novice so could really do with a rolling road and old school pro near by. If anyone knows of one in the Dorset area let me know!

Looks like we’re all good to go with no issues. Thanks

When you say it wouldn’t rev up, I Don’t suppose it was like this?

Thanks for the advice to all. New starter fitted and all seems good it did have me slightly worried when it struggled to turn on the first few tries but now it seems good. dumb question, I was supposed to re oil or lub something up?

Thanks. Certainly a lesson time not to buy cheap parts. Worked really well for about 4 years, but keep in mind the car only done about 1000 miles in that duration.

Interesting. Yes, oddly enough I’d already watched that video but wasn’t sure if my starter work by some kind of Soleniod pushing it out or inertia bendix type thing. I can turn the teeth both ways and it doesn’t force it out. either way, I think I’m going to have to buy a new starter. I just wanted to be sure it wasn’t the fly wheel side of things with bad teeth - but from my novice eyes those all look good right? I might go for a more expensive starter this time rather than the cheapest I can find.

Not quite sure what I’m look at but teeth on hue ring gear all present and correct. https://youtu.be/5Dh8BBZyiyU https://youtu.be/t2Re7wzUkjY On closer inspection I did notice that the ends of the pinion gear appeared worn. https://youtu.be/6VisygKvUSM

It just seems odd the gear appears to pop into place when out of the vehicle. But yes, it does appear like that. when it was off I did briefly look inside and saw a section of the starter ring. I didn’t look closely but there didn’t appear to be any bad teeth. I think, like you say, next thing is to take it off again and have a better look - it’s gotta come off regardless if I have to replace it.

Ok. I’ll link a couple of videos below video 1 shows the solid earth strap back to the battery from the body. Followed by trying to start . Difficult for me to tell if it engages or just spins. video 2 shows it starting and a couple of times seems to catch and try to start. I’ll try the same later without the plugs in to reduce load. The starter was bought about three years ago from eBay for sub £100 so not a very expensive one. Having said that, it’s probably not done more than a thousand or so miles. very happy to by a more expensive starter b

Ok. So I know it’s got the permanent 12v from the battery via the strap. I know it’s getting 12v via the ignition. correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it is earthed on a pinto via the body. if it didn’t have 12v ign then nothing would happen when starting it - the motor spins if it didnt have 12v constant the solenoid would click, but the motor wouldn’t spin. if there was no earth, nothing would happen right? is that what you meant?

I’m not sure o follow. The video is the starter being run connected to the car loom but not connected to the fly wheel housing. It seems to run ok, and the pinion gear appears to shoot out ready to engage when not connected. aa far as I can tell it continues to behave in the same way when bolted into the housing. could you elaborate?

Progressively my starter motor has increasingly become worse at engaging and starting the engine. when I try to start it, I can hear it running but doesn’t engage the engine. Try maybe 5 more times and eventually it engages and starts. You can hear it is spinning freely without any catch or grinding against the teeth. I took the starter off and ran it out the engine as in the video and you can see it pop forward and spin. All the teeth look fine on both the starter and those that I can see on the fly wheel. ive taken a video of it running as linked below.

Thank you, so you would suggest then it would be best to fit just before the mechanical pump?