OK. Here goes. Tried 3 starter motors over the weekend. The one that was on the car when i got it, approx 1 year old. The 1 off my low mileage S1 Turbo and the original starter from my now defunct XR3i. I also changed the standard Ford type 085 battery for a less than 1 year old Halfords Type 093 battery which is obviously larger and has a cold cranking power of 500 amps ! Let car get hot, until fan kicked in, cos i wanted to make sure than fan worked too and still had the same problem. It will turnover & start sometimes but not guaranteed all the time !!!! Interestingly, when i linked both batteries type 085 and type 093 with jump leads it seemed to start everytime when hot. Got fed up after about 10 or 15 tries !!!!!! Still really none the wiser and not convinced the problem has been resolved. Expect an auto electrician would advise putting a high spec decent battery (ie Varta) and better starter motor(ie diesel) on the car to ensure starting from hot.
Also, pulled one of my plug leads off to check plugs and the lead came out the cap and the copper wire is very green/nearly broken which can't be doing any good either. Can the lead be shortened marginally and the end be re-connected or should i buy a completely new lead and start fresh ????
