The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay How does floor starter work 3100

Looking for info to troubleshoot starter on my 52 3100. The floor starter works but 50% does not engage flywheel properly and grinds.

Does the foot pedal first engage a pinion gear and then switch on electrical? Is there an adjustment? I had the starter rebuilt a year or so ago, it is an original.

Appreciate any help?

Thanks Denis
Used to drive submarines now prefer old rides

Has it been doing this ever since is was rebuilt?

It should not grind

This is a common problem with worn mechanical linkage between the lever arm on the starter and the gear drive. The gear is supposed to be fully engaged in the flywheel before the push button on top of the starter is contacted by the linkage. A worn pivot pin on the lever and/or wear on the fork that moves the gear drive can allow the motor to begin turning before the gear is fully meshed.

Unfortunately, wear on the flywheel ring gear is also a possibility. Remove the starter, turn the engine by hand, and inspect the ring gear all the way around. Some people recommend flipping the ring gear over (requires a BFH and a torch) to get a fresh bite on the gear for the drive to engage.
Jerry

Troubleshooting is the key to all problems. Learning from others and getting innovative is necessary. In this case Jerry has indicated it could be a "timing" problem and/or worn parts. Now your job is to test in such a way as to prove/disprove/discover what the cause is. There are options to trouble shooting: Replacement, temporary elimination of a feature, testing, careful observation, to name a few. Keeping Jerry's comments in mind, First examine the operation with battery disconnected, good flash light here. If looks OK, try to do the timing "by hand" using all the parts as they are now installed. Somehow kick the pinion in with the linkage and then apply power. Maybe disconnect batt hot, someone pushes foot down, then temporarily touch power back on batt. This may not be the best way to check but it gives you the gist of what I'm saying about trouble shooting. You will have forced the timing to be correct and observe several times to hear and see any change. The person inside will have to be savvy enough to let up when it starts. You will then be able to see that linkage and pinion do in fact work, you may see that it works %100. Or will see it's not timing but tooth slip. In my opinion, if it needs a flywheel, I would replace the whole flywheel rather than a ring gear. Either is a big heavy job.

Thanks all. I found a good troubleshooting tip to determine if it is the ring gear, and it is. When I shut the truck off just before everything stops spinning engage the clutch, which will stop the flywheel in a different spot. And I have done this five times and no grinding. So I suspect it is the ring gear. I will leave it until some other major item requires access to flywheel. Thanks Denis

You can examine the flywheel teeth without removing any heavy stuff by dropping the inspection plate at the bottom of the bellhousing and turning the engine with a big screwdriver or a pry bar. If there is a damaged section of the ring gear teeth, it should be very obvious.
Jerry

Thanks