Starter not working
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Tourer
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 375
Likes: 15
From: Illinois
Starter not working
Hey Guys,
Had to replace the starter pinion gear (use to call it the Bendix gear). Figured as long as starter was out, I’d take a look. The starter was running on 3 brushes. Rebuilt the starter. Starter passed all bench tests: stator good, commutator good and no open circuits. Hooked it to battery on bench and thing jumped so hard it scared me...so I’m pretty sure the starter is ok. New bendix gear and the solenoid works. Here’s a video I posted on you tube:
any ideas on why this is happening? I took the starter back out and spun the gear in the transfer housing and the jack shaft and pinion turned...so I’m guessing that’s ok. I’m stumped. It’s like the bendix is hung up or the starter just doesn’t have enough oomph to turn the motor. Maybe it is the starter. I dunno. I even took the plugs out. I only changed two brushes. I couldn’t desolder the ones soldered to the starter motor frame. Would that kill the starter motor power?
Had to replace the starter pinion gear (use to call it the Bendix gear). Figured as long as starter was out, I’d take a look. The starter was running on 3 brushes. Rebuilt the starter. Starter passed all bench tests: stator good, commutator good and no open circuits. Hooked it to battery on bench and thing jumped so hard it scared me...so I’m pretty sure the starter is ok. New bendix gear and the solenoid works. Here’s a video I posted on you tube:
any ideas on why this is happening? I took the starter back out and spun the gear in the transfer housing and the jack shaft and pinion turned...so I’m guessing that’s ok. I’m stumped. It’s like the bendix is hung up or the starter just doesn’t have enough oomph to turn the motor. Maybe it is the starter. I dunno. I even took the plugs out. I only changed two brushes. I couldn’t desolder the ones soldered to the starter motor frame. Would that kill the starter motor power?
Last edited by Bill wallace; Jun 10, 2018 at 08:47 PM.
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From: Honah Lee
Is the starter motor even running? Soliniod is kicking starter gear. Did you undercut the communtator that the brushes run on and check it for run out?
When you put the new brushes on, did you form them by wrapping sandpaper on communtator and rotating?
When you put the new brushes on, did you form them by wrapping sandpaper on communtator and rotating?
Last edited by Jackie Paper; Jun 10, 2018 at 08:20 PM.
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Tourer
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 375
Likes: 15
From: Illinois
The brushes were pre-formed with a curve to match the commutator. I polished the commutator but didn’t cut it. The starter motor spins when I hook jumper cables to it from a battery. It seems pretty robust. So you think the starter motor is suspect. Any suggestions?
Here’s my thought: you can hear the starter motor spinning while the pinion is locked on the clutch shell drive gear. The solenoid is pushing the pinion onto the clutch shell drive gear, but somewhere along the way it’s getting disconnected from the starter motor. The only place that could happen is in the starter drive housing. my guess is the jackshaft isn’t engaged on the drive gear. . But if that were the case, I don’t know if the primary cover would go back on. And it does the same thing with the primary cover on or off.
Here’s my thought: you can hear the starter motor spinning while the pinion is locked on the clutch shell drive gear. The solenoid is pushing the pinion onto the clutch shell drive gear, but somewhere along the way it’s getting disconnected from the starter motor. The only place that could happen is in the starter drive housing. my guess is the jackshaft isn’t engaged on the drive gear. . But if that were the case, I don’t know if the primary cover would go back on. And it does the same thing with the primary cover on or off.
Last edited by Bill wallace; Jun 10, 2018 at 09:40 PM.
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,096
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From: Niles Canyon Ca.
Well in the video the bendix shaft is kicking out far enough it's coming out of the spline in the reduction gear in the starter housing is what I'm seeing. Hang the primary cover on with a few bolts and try again.
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 92
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From: Wisconsin
you cant test the starter and bendix with the primary cover off.. what he said above.
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From: Santa Klaus County, Cali
Just a passing thought when I read you mention the jackshaft not staying engaged with the drive gear. Before you put the cover on did you remember to put the thrust washer back on the end of the starter shaft. If not that could kick it off the gear as soon as you hit the starter button.
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Tourer
Joined: Sep 2016
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From: Illinois
Panz...great minds think alike! Yeah, gonna look into that. Got a ten foot solid oak table to get out of my shop and to the customer. Wife wants pay-day!
Anyway, thanks for the reply. I’m going to take the gear drive apart because I sho-nuff don’t remember a thrust washer going in there and not having a thrust washer would cause this. I also didn’t remember there being a spacer on the pinion (jack-shaft for us old-timey types) shaft. So I held the pinion gear out with a screw driver and looked back there with a mirror and didn’t see a spacer. Soooo...gotta do some tearing apart.
this is weird: when I pulled the pinion out and slipped the screwdriver in, (see pic) the starter motor kicked on. What In The world would cause that? No, I didn’t touch the solenoid terminals. And there are no capacitors in this system. Ignition was off. Never heard of that.
Anyway, thanks for the reply. I’m going to take the gear drive apart because I sho-nuff don’t remember a thrust washer going in there and not having a thrust washer would cause this. I also didn’t remember there being a spacer on the pinion (jack-shaft for us old-timey types) shaft. So I held the pinion gear out with a screw driver and looked back there with a mirror and didn’t see a spacer. Soooo...gotta do some tearing apart.
this is weird: when I pulled the pinion out and slipped the screwdriver in, (see pic) the starter motor kicked on. What In The world would cause that? No, I didn’t touch the solenoid terminals. And there are no capacitors in this system. Ignition was off. Never heard of that.
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