How do starters work?

[Baz]

I guess I wouldn't have asked this question, if when I bolted my starter up, the cogs didn't match....but it got me thinking, and I can't find an answer in my books.
Anyway, if someone could just briefly explain, what happens when I turn the key, how do the innuds of the starter work, to turn my flywheel.
Thanks!

 

[blkcorvair]

If the cogs lined up the starter surely would be spun to pieces in a very timely fashion. (my 78 Dodge charger exploded one that stuck).. I was trying to listen for that noise until CACHING>>>DING>>>DING>>>DING.

But generally the shaft has and the and the inside of the cog is threaded in such a manner that when you turn the starter over it rapidly forces the cog to thread into the flywhell thus engaging. (This is why there is a bit of white lithium grease in there.) If it were to dry out rust or get stuck than it can spin without engaging. Of course sometimes a hammer will fix that!

 

[Morris]

Starter's work the same way all things in little British car's work: fairy magic.

Leave a bowl of milk out in the floor pan of your car and it will keep the brownies from going all hobgoblin on you... and ensure that your starter gears will always mesh nicely.

 

[Roger]

Please don't put lithium or any other kind of grease on the thread. They are supposed to be dry. Really! If you must put something, dry graphite is ok.
This, the most common of starters in old cars, is called an inertia starter. As the shaft spins, the inertia in the relatively heavy cog causes it to screw itself along the thread in the shaft until it engages the flywheel.
When the engine starts (assuming the pixie dust has worked) the flywheel now drives the cog and screws it back up the thread until it arrives at the cushioning spring at the end.

Later starters "pre-engage", where a solenoid engages the cog with the flywheel gear before the motor turns. This method is both quieter and kinder to the gears than the inertia method.

 

[JPSmit]

Starter's work the same way all things in little British car's work: fairy magic.

Leave a bowl of milk out in the floor pan of your car and it will keep the brownies from going all hobgoblin on you... and ensure that your starter gears will always mesh nicely.

and this explains more about your restoration than I even want to contemplate. BTW - check your PM

 

[zimmy]

i agree with Morris....AND Jp :wink: ....z

 

[dklawson]

I thought the answer was going to be:
"Very poorly" or
"Only when they want to".

 

[Baz]

Thanks guys.
I was curious as to how they mesh, do their thing, then go back until needed next time.
Appreciate the knowledge!
Albeit fantastic, I do prefer Morris's explaination.