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Starter bendix spring strength

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MarkA

Jedi Trainee
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Hey All,

How strong/long should the spring on the starter bendix be? I streched it out a bit so that the gear just returns fully when the start is standing on the non-drive end. Before I did that, the bendix had trouble returning when on a slight incline, with the assembly dry. I assume that the bendix gear assembly runs dry or some light oil... right? I did put a little lithium grease on the bushing closest to the starter motor.

Thanks,
Mark
 
Just put it back in and see if it works good now !---Keoke- /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
MarkA said:
Hey All,

How strong/long should the spring on the starter bendix be? I streched it out a bit so that the gear just returns fully when the start is standing on the non-drive end. Before I did that, the bendix had trouble returning when on a slight incline, with the assembly dry. I assume that the bendix gear assembly runs dry or some light oil... right? I did put a little lithium grease on the bushing closest to the starter motor.
Thanks,
Mark
Click to expand...
When the starter starts to turn, the inertia of the pinion causes it to move along the spiral until it engages the flywheel gear.

As soon as the engine starts, flywheel is turning faster than the starter, the starter pinion is forced back out of engagement by the spiral. The only purpose of the light spring is to make sure that the pinion does not move back into engagement under inertia from car acceleration. The large spring on the end absorbs the kick from the flywheel over run pinion kick out.

Folks generally recommend a clean dry pinion to shaft surface. Any type of lubrication can become gummy over time & prevent the pinion from moving freely on the shaft & it may fail to engage.

If the light spring were too stiff, the pinion might fail to engage if the starter was a bit weak due to low battery or such.
D
 
My spring was so weak that moving the starter gently around caused the pinion to move along its shaft partially. I was afraid that it might rattle up against the flywheel. There was no evidence that it had, just wanted to avoid a problem. After I streched the spring a bit, it is still a weak push back of the pinion, just a little more positive now.

Mark
 
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