• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Starter

Share this page

roscoe said:
I don't know anyone who bought a geared high torque starter for their Healey and wishes they didn't. Mine got rid of similar starting issues. Make sure the ground cable from the starter body to the frame is clean and tight and that the wiring from the solenoid on the firewall to the starter is in proper condition. The original starters weren't so great to begin with but if everything is sorted they shold work. Worn brushes, dirty commutator are also possibilities.
Click to expand...

Hey, I had the starter rebuilt. The thing was turning but way too slow. Should spin like a high speed drill and the bendix needs to come back, (crash type).
about a inch to engage.
Next problem is that the starter will kick over the engine fine but the second the engine fires it kicks out the bendix gear. Then I get the buzz sound of the thing turning but not engaged.
I had checked before the rebuild the ring gear to starter gear gap, 5/32" which is within tolerances.
Anyways I don't see a way to adjust the gap, the ring gear and starter gears look perfect.
Any ideas on this? Thanks for your input. Dave Walsh
 
I'm not sure what the 'buzz' you're hearing is, but a possible cause is the small, light spring that keeps the Bendix's gear away from the ring gear when the engine is running is broken.
 
roscoe said:
I don't know anyone who bought a geared high torque starter for their Healey and wishes they didn't. Mine got rid of similar starting issues. Make sure the ground cable from the starter body to the frame is clean and tight and that the wiring from the solenoid on the firewall to the starter is in proper condition. The original starters weren't so great to begin with but if everything is sorted they shold work. Worn brushes, dirty commutator are also possibilities.
Click to expand...

Thanks
 
Sounds like an issue with the Bendix drive if by buzzing you mean the starter is spinning but not engaging. You can check it on the bench to see if the drive is moving as it should, just strap or clamp it down to something as the torque will make it fly off the bench. The only difference is that you won't have the same effect as when the engine starts and the flywheel spins making the Bendix drive " snap back" to it's at rest position. You may just have a weak Bendix spring, or the starter isn't turning fast enough. There are rebuilds and there are rebuilds.
 
Hi Roscoe thanks for your help. I did bench test the starter before I installed it. It spins like a high speed drill the bendix moves back about .75 inches and returns to normal position.
I believe the starter is ok but the issue is this, when the car does not fire I can spin the engine all day fine. Just as soon as it fires it kicks the bendix out of gear and then the buzzing sound due to the starter spinning unengaged.
now I checked the gear gap before it was overhauled and it was within tolerances 5/32” but somehow that may have changed during overhaul, not sure. The flange is on tight and straight. When the car is warmed up it does not do it but when it’s cold it does it a lot. I’ll make several attempts starting before I can manage to get the car running. Any advice is welcome. Tchau Dave Walsh
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top