starter question

[seanik]

starter on my 74 merc 1150 would spin but not pop and engage the flywheel. brand new battery and wiring harness replaced last year. all connections clean and good.

I pulled the starter and clamped to the workbench. With jumper cables from the truck battery the starer would turn and push up the gear but it will not stay in the up position the full time power is applied.

Any thoughts?

 

[Laddies]

Re: starter question

You need to oil the spines on the bendix gear, the gear is engaged by the twist of the starter shaft as it starts to spin if there is no resistance to keep it up as it reaches RPM the spring returns it to rest

 

[seanik]

Re: starter question

so if I understand correctly (big if) the gear should not stay in the up position on a bench test as there is no resistance on the gear.

I am also assuming the bendix gear is the gear that engages the flywheel. the parts explosion I am looking at does not specifically state that this is a bendix gear.

 

[seanik]

Re: starter question

can anyone confirm my assumptions above? thanks in advance!

 

[bgbass.1]

Re: starter question

in other words it will pop up when bench tested but when it reaches rpm and there is no resistance against it {like the flywheel spinning}it will fall back down. hope this clears up your question

 

[seanik]

Re: starter question

Thanks! confirms my understanding of what should happen on a bench test.

Guess I'll reinstall and double check all my connections to make sure the are tight and clean since it was not popping up when on the motor. Guess I could have not got one as tight as need when I re-wired last fall and it's worked its way loose, probably at the solenoid as I did not check those before pulling the starter off.

Given the age of the starter I"ll run it by the local auto zone and have them give it a test as well before bolting in back up. Probably time for a rebuild anyway...

 

[Molaker]

Re: starter question

If a loose or dirty connection isn't found (most common problems) then you may have a bad solenoid. CAREFULLY jumper across the 2 large solenoid terminals with a heavy cable (like a jumper cable). If the bendix engages the flywheel, the solenoid is bad.

 

[hkeiner]

Re: starter question

The attached starter troubleshooting guide for a 150HP V6 may be of help. Your motor may be wired a little different than this but the troubleshooting principles would be the same.

Good luck.