Mr. S who had owned his Silver Shadow for some thirty years had a hot starting problem. He could start the engine cold and drive the car normally with no problems. However if he stopped the engine after it had been running for a while, to fill with petrol for example, it would more often than not refuse to crank when hot.

Several Rolls-Royce & Bentley specialists had looked into the problem over a period of a year or so. A new battery, starter motor, earth connections, solenoid and more had been fitted, but all to no avail.

Mr. S attended a Taylor’s technical seminar and brought his Silver Shadow. We asked to keep the car for a day or two. We checked all the obvious causes and components, but we found no fault. We soon realised that the problem was not related to the starter or its circuit. It was related to the effort needed to turn the engine over. When the engine was up to running temperature it was going tight. We proved our theory with the help of a lever and the starter ring gear, it was almost impossible to turn the engine by hand with a two foot lever. Problem identified and solved.