I thought I would share something I did to overcome the starting problem I had in appreciation for the past help I had recieved from this website.

The townace got to the point where nearly every time I wanted to start up the starter motor would not function and I would short the main 12V feed to the starter relay feed to get it going.

The garage changed the starting relay contacts and that worked marveously for a few days then the problem came back. Another garage suggested the battery - I didn't believe that was the main problem.

I fixed it for free and only a couple minutes labour!

I'm not 100% sure how but all I did was try to trace the starting relay feed wire back (to chase through the reported volt drop problem) and there appeared to be a couple of pushfit connections close to the starter motor. I just wriggled those connections & push them home as far as I could and - hey presto! - no more problems! The connections could be under the expansion tank overflow pipe so if your townace is in a habit of expelling coolant I can imagine this degrading the connections. Sealing them might help.

The important point to make which I haven't seen elswhere in the archives is:

When the starting system is working you can run the battery low like any normal car - i.e. the starter motor runs slower & slower. When the starting system is not working properly you don't get anything at all, like the starting relay is threshold sensitive and requires a really good battery to start up. This can lead to the assumption that the battery is 'on its way out' or 'of insufficient capacity'. Actually it might be the EASILY ACCESSIBLE CONNECTIONS! So check those first!

Hope this helps someone but I had to share this 'cos I'm really chuffed!

- (#13132) Peter Dawson, 1 Sep 04 07:03

i have a 91 Masterace surf that runs great, problem is even small bumps cause vibration inside, could i replace bushings or buffers and if so would that solve my problem.any info

- (#13132) Cliff O' Shea, 7 Nov 04 14:30