Hi All, having a weird problem. It’s a Type 4 2L in a 77 Bay. When I press the starter button the starter whizzes most times, then occasionally catches. It then turns the engine briefly, a couple of revs, then whizzes again. I have had the starter out and bench tested it and it works perfectly. I have measured 12.7 volts at the starter and bypassed both the earth strap and the wiring from the start button. But when installed it consistently fails to catch most times. Any idea? Thanks
If it ends up being a fault with your started strength once fitted I have plenty of tested working original starter motors if needed. Sounds to me like it is working on the bench but doesn't have the strength/engage with load/weight applied to the equation. Dan.
You might have lost/worn some teeth on the starter ring gear, the engine only stops in two places so those teeth are the ones the starter always engages with, or the overrun clutch in the bendix is slipping.
Thanks both. It’s definitely not missing flywheel teeth as I have just replaced the flywheel. It’s still on the axle stands after putting the engine/gearbox back in the bus. Starter strength could be worth investigating. Not sure how to check that without getting another one.
All the terminals are clean, it seems like it is an internal issue. But, I have noticed that the solenoid body is hard against the chassis member above the gearbox. It seems to be seated properly but I will try to grind away a small bit of the chassis Lip to give it a bit of space. The engine/gearbox has always been a very tight fit since I converted from 1600cc setup a couple of years ago.
I would like to cut a window in the flywheel housing so that I can see what’s actually happening. Should have thought of that before I put it back in....
Mine is also tight lengthways after converting from T1/3 rib to T4/6rib but I haven't noticed the starter hitting anything. However, I have had exactly to same problem which once it got from spinning without engaging once in a while to spinning 9 times out of ten I fitted a different starter I had and no problem since. I'm sitting in it right now, I may poke the camera in the direction of the starter...
Thanks everyone. I am thinking I need a new starter motor. It’s not old but the first time I put the engine in the flywheel came loose (Forgot to loctite the bolts) and it broke several teeth off the flywheel. The new flywheel is in now, and the starter looks ok, but, I suspect the previous crunching put too much load on the starter motor clutch, it made a hell of a noise!
There should be a "use once" ali washer encompassing all 5 bolts for them to grip onto. I wonder … tempting to reuse, could have gone AWOL.
When I left my flywheel loose on my T1 , different mode of falling off I know, I left the nut finger tight while I went off for a cup of coffee. Then put the clutch on when I came back...
New starter motor has sorted it, phew! Hard to say what went wrong the first time. I definitely used a new lock washer but maybe I didn’t torque up. Measuring end float involves so much doing and undoing the flywheel (I’d done a complete rebuild) that I could have done anything. Salutary lesson to be careful and methodical when putting things together. Thanks again, in these times it’s extra helpful to have people to ask when you’re struggling.
