The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Rebuild or new Starter?

Hi all,

On my 54 the starter is about to go out. It is the original i believe. It will only engage about once out of every 10 trys now. It just whines and doesn't engage the starter. If it is the original do you think it would be better to go ahead and put an all new starter on it or just rebuild the original?

Is it a key switch or foot operated starter. If its a key switch type, you need a new solenoid. If it is a foot operated starter, the starter motor is running before the drive engages. It is either a linkage adjustment, chewed up teeth on the starter drive or a bad spot on the flywheel ring gear. If it is a foot operated starter, check the linkage for movement of the drive before it depresses the switch on the starter. If that looks ok, I would then suspect the ring gear. Turn the engine a little manually and then try to start it. If it starts then you have a bad spot on the ring gear. You can either flip the ring gear, or install a new ring gear.

You're not likely to find a new starter for a 1954 engine. They'll all be rebuilt. It sounds like you've got a bad starter drive, (sometimes called a "Bendix") It's an easy swap that doesn't require reworking the whole starter.
Jerry

It is a foot operated starter.

Now teach', that should read, (sometimes improperly called a "Bendix")

I'd bet you've just got a bunch of slop in that linkage as Ken brought up. I've seen fixes on old farm trucks where old chunks cut off a tire were tied on to the fork with bailing wire to get it to ingage.

DG

I took the starter off this morning. The ring gear shows a little wear, but nothing i would think that major. The corners of each tooth are worn, and it looks to be fresh, bright shiny metal and was some fresh shavings. The teeth on starter look fine. There didn't seem to be a lot of slop in the linkage, but am i right in thinking it may not take much? There does seam to be some in the pivot arm on the starter that depresses the switch, it has some movement before it depresses the switch. The teeth on the ring gear look to me to just be a very small corner taken off of the teeth, not enough not to engage the starter i would think. I'm not a mechaninc and i really appriciate the help guys. So would you think maybe just tighting up the linkage would do it?

Yes, if the teeth aren't chewed up and the Bendix (improper term) is working properly, if you can take the slop out it should engage. If the switch contacts (about ten bucks) are burned away badly then that may a reason it is not engaging.
Here is an example of how one creative old farmer was able to put off replacing his switch: http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/131215242/large
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Yes, but,You might save yourself a lot of grief by just installing the rebuilt starter.

It looks as though the switch has already been replaced at least once, it looks rather new, except the button is rusty. I'm wanting to make it onto a daily driver so i think i may just replace the starter with a rebuilt one just to be sure. Thanks for all the help.

While you've got the starter out, do yourself a favor and change the drive unit with the gear on it. There's a one-way clutch in it that causes the identical symptom you're describing when it starts to slip. It would take a horrendous amount of slack in the linkage to get the armature turning before the starter drive engages with the flywheel.
Jerry

Jerry, are you refering to the drive unit with the gear on it within the starter?

Yes, that's what I've been saying repeatedly. If you reinstall it without changing that piece, you'll just be putting the problem right back in there. The starter drive has a one-way clutch built into it to avoid overspeeding the starter armature when the engine fires up. Once the clutch begins to fail, it can freewheel both ways occasionally, and the starter shaft spins without turning the flywheel. The clutch will catch occasionally, and work right for a time before it fails completely.
Jerry

That sounds exactly like what it is doing. Thanks.

Darren.