starter motor question?


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By Taff - 12 Years Ago
hi all,

now that the motor is turning over by hand, next stop is to get her turning over on the key.

I have the starter motor off the car at the moment, and it looks like this:-

now, as it's my first Y, that starter doesn't look right to me. I gather that, when the key is turned, the bendix is pulled into mesh with the starter ring gear. But it doen't look like it has enough travel?

I've tried it against a battery and it spins over just fine, but the bendix doesn't seem to travel far enough (I would expect the bendix to at least travcel the thickness of the starter ring gear?)

or is it fine, and I should stop being an ass and worrying about it!!

By iowa fords - 12 Years Ago
the bendix is already extended, I think you will have to remove it and rewind it, if you have never done it before, get some help.
By ray - 12 Years Ago
Not knowing what your application is, I'll say that you may be able to work the starter into place with the bendix in that extended position. Some will and some probably will not install that way. A truck will. Some cars are a real PIA even with the bendix retracted. Installation takes a bit of effort and holding your mouth the right way while saying soothing words. Of course, the bendix will retract when the engine starts. Do not force anything. Good luck
By rick55 - 12 Years Ago
That bendix has overridden the ratchet - a not uncommon occurrence. It will not work that way or last long as the bendix will remain in contact with the ring gear. Be careful when you pull it apart. There are a couple of little springs which hold the collars that run on the shaft. They may go flying. To remove the bendix push down on the top washer and you will see a 1/4" pin going through the shaft, push it through and VOILA. There is then a circlip which needs to be prised out and it will then fall apart in your hand. This is from memory - oldtimers!!

Not a hard job to fix and it probably won't happen again. My starter did this 20 years ago and it has never happened again.

Regards
By aussiebill - 12 Years Ago
You can hold the the gear teeth against a spinning wire buffing wheel and it will reset itself, works for me!
By lowrider - 12 Years Ago
aussiebill (3/10/2012)
You can hold the the gear teeth against a spinning wire buffing wheel and it will reset itself, works for me!

X2 for me.

By Ted - 12 Years Ago

Bill’s solution with the wire wheel is the common fix for the ‘engaged’ bendix scenario.

Here’s a past thread that reiterates basically the same.

Restoring the bendix to the non-engaged position
By Taff - 12 Years Ago
you've got to love the internet, don't you? I'm 42 (actually my birthday today) and had dozens of cars in bits over the years but never a 292 Y block. I didn;t think that starter looked right, and it isn't.

i don't have a bench mounted wire wheel, so I'll fit my brush onto an angle grinder and try that.

Thanks all, hope to get her turning over on the key next weekend now!!

By paul2748 - 12 Years Ago
I got rid of the stock starter and went with a mini high torque one. Much better.
By rick55 - 12 Years Ago
It never ceases to amaze me, the little tricks people have. I come from an electrical fitting background and have always fixed something if it is broken. It isn't that hard to remove the bendix, so that is what I have always done, but I will try this trick the next time I pick up up a overextended bendix.

Thanks
By aussiebill - 12 Years Ago
rick55 (3/11/2012)
It never ceases to amaze me, the little tricks people have. I come from an electrical fitting background and have always fixed something if it is broken. It isn't that hard to remove the bendix, so that is what I have always done, but I will try this trick the next time I pick up up a overextended bendix.
Thanks

Rick you,re only thinking in amps, we think in volts, ha,ha. regards bill.Smile

By Taff - 12 Years Ago
rick55 (3/10/2012)
That bendix has overridden the ratchet - a not uncommon occurrence. It will not work that way or last long as the bendix will remain in contact with the ring gear. Be careful when you pull it apart. There are a couple of little springs which hold the collars that run on the shaft. They may go flying. To remove the bendix push down on the top washer and you will see a 1/4" pin going through the shaft, push it through and VOILA. There is then a circlip which needs to be prised out and it will then fall apart in your hand. This is from memory - oldtimers!!
Not a hard job to fix and it probably won't happen again. My starter did this 20 years ago and it has never happened again.
Regards

well, I don't have a bench-mounted wire wheel so I tried my angle grimder with a wire wheel fitted and nothing!

so I set about it like Rick suggested and 20 mins later it was all rebuilt and looking like i would expect it to.

Thansk again to everyone who chipped in, i'll fit her this weekend and see if i can't get the motor turning on the key for the first time since 1973!!

By ray - 12 Years Ago
ray (3/10/2012)
Not knowing what your application is, I'll say that you may be able to work the starter into place with the bendix in that extended position. Some will and some probably will not install that way. A truck will. Some cars can be a real PIA even with the bendix retracted. Installation takes a bit of effort and holding your mouth the right way while saying soothing words. Of course, the bendix will retract when the engine starts. Do not force anything. Good luck




I would guess the OP has his starter installed by now. I realize I have some disagreements with the installing the starter with the bendix extended but it has worked for me at least twice. Many years ago I built a 312 and installed it in a 1963 Ford P or F 350 camper van I had converted to a motorhome and it worked then.

Recently I rebuilt the engine in my '56 F350, installed the starter with the bendix extended. I've not had it on the road yet. I just went out and dropped the flywheel cover and verified the bendix had indeed restored when I started the engine.

Not to be argumentative, but please, can anyone explain to me what I am failing to see between restoring the bendix on a bench grinder or restoring the bendix with the engine spinning. I do see the advantage of holding the starter in you hand and seeing that the bendix is restored.

thanks.
By Ted - 12 Years Ago
ray (3/13/2012)
... Not to be argumentative, but please, can anyone explain to me what I am failing to see between restoring the bendix on a bench grinder or restoring the bendix with the engine spinning. I do see the advantage of holding the starter in you hand and seeing that the bendix is restored.
thanks.
There are some cars out there where the starter fit in snaking the starter into its hole is just tight enough that if the starter bendix is extended, then the starter cannot be angled into place.  Most pickups and trucks are not an issue with this but some of the cars are.
By rick55 - 12 Years Ago
Ray, I think this is a case of what floats your boat. I have had two of these bendixes overextended and they would not retract when the engine started. The bendixes stayed in contact with the ring gear and just kept spinning the starter. If you can reset the starter by spinning it against a wire wheel, it should retract when the engine starts. Mine didn't so I just pulled the bendixes apart. I would think it has something to do with the condition of the bendixes and the ratchet.

I just find it easier to fix the starter before I put it back on the car. I am interested in the wire wheel method but.

Regards