Starter pinion gear disengaging

[jslu]

I can't verify the actual serial no. of this 40 HP powerhead. but its parts make-up tells me it's probably around 1982.

The 9 tooth starter pinion gear only stays engaged with the flywheel for about 3 seconds and then drops out.

Power is still at the starter because it continues to spin. This is an easy starting engine, so starting can be accomplished under these circumstances.

However, this short engagement does not work well for maintainance tasks like lync and sync, compression testing, or any other tests requiring continous turning of the flywheel without a live engine.

I was thinking maybe a bad solenoid not being able to continously deliver full current to the starter.

Any other ideas??

John

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Starter pinion gear disengaging

Possibility. If the starter contacts are old and have arced over you have peaks and valleys where you are supposed to have flat surfaces. The currents would be concentrated in these areas causing a problem due to I (exp 2) R heating.....too little surface area for the current being carried. Resistance would increase with time engaged.

Why not get some help and measure the terminal voltage at the starter when you first hit it and again after the problem occurs. Prefer to measure at the terminal stud(s) on the starter thus eliminating any errors caused by high terminal resistance connected to the starter stud.

Let us know.

Mark

 

[jslu]

Re: Starter pinion gear disengaging

Why not get some help and measure the terminal voltage at the starter when you first hit it and again after the problem occurs. Prefer to measure at the terminal stud(s) on the starter thus eliminating any errors caused by high terminal resistance connected to the starter stud.

Let us know.

Mark[/QUOTE]

Mark;

I performed voltage checks as you suggested and found that all voltage drops across both the solenoid and starter were within acceptable limits.

So, I asked myself, what is different here?

This problem surfaced when I installed this new statter. I thought it would be a good idea to liberally grease the pinion gear and ring gear. WRONG!!! I tediously removed the grease from both gears with Q tips and acetone and "voila", continuous engagement returns.

My take on this is that the pinion gear was losing its grip on the ring gear just due to pulsations of the engine turning over and attempting to start.

Dry gears seem to work. if this changes, I'll post again

Thanks again,

John

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Starter pinion gear disengaging

"This problem surfaced when I installed this new statter. I thought it would be a good idea to liberally grease the pinion gear and ring gear. WRONG!!! I tediously removed the grease from both gears with Q tips and acetone and "voila", continuous engagement returns.

My take on this is that the pinion gear was losing its grip on the ring gear just due to pulsations of the engine turning over and attempting to start.

Dry gears seem to work. if this changes, I'll post again"

Interesting piece of information.

Thanks for the reply.

Mark