So my starter has problems......solved!!!

[Zulfiqar]

thats the way the starter should work, the push from the solenoid lever is just half way to the flywheel to catch the wheel - then the spring acting like a shock absorber to the lever and one way clutch pinion compresses and fires the solenoid - the spinning action of the motor and the sluggishness of the engine keep the starter pinion fully engaged to the flywheel teeth.

I would look at the idiotic spring - and or the lever the solenoid pulls on, it should not be sloppy on the fitment point on the clutch or on the anchor pivot point. (seen it happen on a slushybox BMW starter - PITA it was)

[macka]

The spring could be the culprit like Zulfiqar said.

[rabbitman]

The spring could be the culprit like Zulfiqar said.

Yeah I've wondered about it, it just seems too stupid though the piece was new last winter

Maybe I'll shim the spring..... I hate taking that little c-clip off though it's such a pain, but it has to come off to get the gear off........

[Zulfiqar]

Hiya
a little similar situation was handed to me yesterday for a Daewoo (GM) Nubira starter - same bosch reduction drive like ours, key it to start - whirrrr, no engagement.

Took it apart - pinion slides freely n all, tested the starter on battery.the plastic fork that shoves the pinion had its foot pieces shattered, replaced that all was good.

Maybe that'll help -

[rabbitman]

Hiya
a little similar situation was handed to me yesterday for a Daewoo (GM) Nubira starter - same bosch reduction drive like ours, key it to start - whirrrr, no engagement.

Took it apart - pinion slides freely n all, tested the starter on battery.the plastic fork that shoves the pinion had its foot pieces shattered, replaced that all was good.

Maybe that'll help -

A plastic fork?....what a dumb design . That can't be the problem with mine, I've had the fork out since this started and it was fine. But it is similar in that it won't engage.....

I discovered in the past few days that it's gotten so the starter ALWAYS takes a couple/few trys before it engages whether hot or cold. Today it was -15F and it hadn't ran for 6 hours and still took about 4 trys and then fired right up, yesterday I had the engine up to temp and shut it off for like 2 minutes max and it took 1-2 trys. I think I'm gonna shim the spring next chance I get, I'm still gonna get some spare starters but I hate getting whipped like this so I gotta fix it......

[rabbitman]

Yesterday I ripped my diesel and gasser starters apart, pulled the drivegears and then pulled the springs out of the drivegears to compare (this is a blast ).

I'm sure the "new" drivegear isn't bosch, no PN's anywere, the springs have the same number of winds but the new one felt kinda "dead" and was slightly shorter, yet they felt like they had almost the same strength with the bosch one being the stronger.

So I swapped springs and put everything back together, this morning it didn't engage for a couple trys and then tonight when I was leaving work it started first try, then after it sat a few hours at my bros it grinded the first try and started on the second. I'm sure your all thrilled to hear all this.

Next I'm gonna put the bosch spring back in the bosch drivegear and use it, for some reason when the gasser starter is installed it engages fine, so I gotta figure out what the deal is.

I've ground the starter into the flywheel a lot but when I looked at my flywheel teeth and they don't look like they're chewed bad at all so I wonder if the gear is engaging and the one way clutch is just slipping and "somehow" making grindy noises......

[maxfax]

Keep us posted, I'm curious..    SO far I'm still running the same reman I ran last winter, the one that was giving me similar issues..   Down to 22 deg F and it worked fine..      Last winter it was a #$&*()!!!!  The darned gasser started worked perfect...

May not hurt to take a small file and dress the theeth on the flywheel a bit..   Just enough to make sure there are no burrs...

[fatmobile]

About the clicking.
 I usually try to crank for awhile, or click for awhile and see what connections get hot.
 It's often the solenoid bolt, that the positive battery cable connects to,.. meaning the solenoid contacts have gotten bad.
 Several times now I've removed the threaded ring at the bottom of that stud,
 shoved the stud inward and turned it 90 degrees.
 This most often renews the solenoid contacts, eliminates heating of that post and the solenoid will work again.
 Solenoids aren't cheap.
 Doesn't help with the grinding but I hope it comes in handy next time it clicks.

[rabbitman]

So I put in the drivegear from the gasser starter and it appears to have fixed it , today it cranked first try at -2F without being plugged in!!

So I would guess that the horrible grinding was something in the drivegear/clutch trying to grab.

Cheesy new parts, it mustuv been a chinese copy and couldn't stand up to the diesel starters extra power .

[rabbitman]

Yup the old worn out original bosch drivegear still surpasses the chinese copy.

It's an old part I installed so when it dies I'll be looking for a real bosch one since I know the cheapos won't work worth a box of water.

It worked perfect tonight after almost all day of sitting (not plugged in), I'm gonna have to get used to it cranking right, it's weird after so long.

Bosch ftw!!!!!

[maxfax]

I'll bet that's the same issue I had with the reman...  Probably a cheapo drive..   I wonder if maybe it just didn;t dut the armeture properly..  After a few months of use it has been fine...

[rabbitman]

The original drivegear for the gasser and diesel starts had the same part number, so I bet the drivegear would work fine on a gasser but can't handle the diesel starters extra power.