(T) Starter motor

The starter motor in my 1987 Uno 60S has started to give a little trouble. Sometimes when turning the key to start, the motor turns so slowly the engine cant fire. Almost as though the battery is flat, but that is not the problem. After a few turns the speed of the starter increases and the engine will fire up. Could it be the starter is on the way out? Any coments appreciated as I feel one day it may not start at all e.g. traffic lights during rush hour!!!
Cheers fellow Unoites!
Bryan.

I would suggest starting from the simplest - cleaning the battery terminals (especially +) and attached contacts with a wire brush and contact-cleaning agent before continuing to more comlicated matters like disassembling the starter motor and clening it/changing its carbon brushes.
From the sound of it, my bet is on the + contact insufficiently tight or corroded by battery acid fumes.

It is propably connections as suggested. Either the starter works, or not. See the red power cable going from the battery to the starter? That's + live wire - the thickest one. Now, find another similar wire in your garage (we used an amp wire) and connect it from the battery - (negative) to the starter. This should give it direct earth. Might solve the problem... Did so on the Ritmo.

Morten.

Next time you try to start the engine, especially if you notice this problem mainly with the engine hot, try giving the accelerator pedal a few prods first. If you find that the engine suddenly spins over quickly, you have the over-advanced ignition problem that I had with my Uno 60. Flooding the engine with the accelerator disguises the problem - which is that the engine tries to fire against itself (spark plug fires as piston rises). You should get the timing checked and verify that the vacuum advance is working - someone may have set the timing too advanced to compensate.

But this a little unusual, and if you are getting this with the engine cold, I think you should order up some starter motor brushes (Mal Simmonds, or Thomson Motors if Mal has none in stock) and then pull your starter (three bolts), take the starter apart, give the commutator a polish (with fine sandpaper) and replace the brushes. They only cost a few dollars each!

This is after checking the connections as (CZ)enda and Monty Mort suggest.

Thanks,
-Alex

Yes, thanks fella's have found the problem to be worn brushes, and a sticking solenoid. I got mobile temporarily by pushing the worn brushes in further with a screwdriver and unsticking the solenoid with a few taps with a hammer! Kiwi ingenuity huh!!
Thanks all,
Brymak.