Weird starter problem! Help!

998 Views 8 Replies 4 Participants Last post by StrichAcht 240D, Feb 10, 2003

BenzBill

Discussion Starter · Jan 3, 2003

Hi, all. This is my 1st post on this sight & I hope in the future I can be of help to someone else in need as I have done extensive work on my '82.

My starter occasionally will kick out & spin freely but will not engage the engine's flywheel at all. It will do this once or twice, then it will engage & start normally. I figured maybe the solenoid was sticking so I removed & disassembled the solenoid & cleaned & honed the cylinder wall & reassembled. Worked Ok for a while, then came back. I then replaced the starter/solenoid assy. Then, what do you know, the problem still exists!! Upon removal of the sarter, I looked at the flywheel teeth & in several places around the flywheel I did notice some wear on the "leading edge" of the teeth but certainly none were missing or chipped. What in the world is going on? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Thanx. Bill

Save

Status: Not open for further replies.

1 - 9 of 9 Posts

Ed Mclass

· #2 · Jan 3, 2003

Cold weather related

Does this problem seem to be related to colder weather? The cleaning process seemed to help, and that makes it seem that the "gunk" hardens when it gets cold and it becomes "sticky" again. When my starter did this, I finally just bought a new one. No problems since.

Save

BenzBill

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 3, 2003

With the original starter, the problem did seem to be related to cold weather. After I cle...

With the original starter, the problem did seem to be related to cold weather. After I cleaned the solenoid cylinder wall & got the car back together, the weather had warmed with spring time & I had no trouble with it through the summer & fall. When the first cold day of winter hit the problem returned.
That's when I bagged the whole thing & replaced the starter/solenoid assy with a reman'd AC-Delco unit.
Now the problem still exists, albeit intermittently, but this time it is totally unrelated to cold temps.
Other than this, the problem is identical from original starter/solenoid to "new". The only thing I can think of is maybe a weak spring on the "throw-out" arm of the solenoid. Maybe they didn't replace or ck the spring upon rebuild. I don't know.

Bill

Save

Ed Mclass

· #4 · Jan 4, 2003

Bad spring

Certainly sounds like a bad re-build. Is your battery fully charged? Diesels do pull a lot of juice, and that combined with the spring may be pulling down the power to start too.

Save

BenzBill

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 5, 2003

Yeah, maybe the starter

I think what I'll do is double-ck all my battery connections (I've already done this once), ck the battery for charge even though it cranks the engine strongly when engaged & then go with another starter if all else fails. If another rebuilt starter gives the same results, I'll just have to punt. Bill

Save

spanners

· #6 · Feb 3, 2003

Starter Problem

Try checking and cleaning up the engine earth leads.
It could be if the contact is bad it can't get enough power to fully engage the starter each time.[8D]

Save

Ed Mclass

· #7 · Feb 3, 2003

Grounding wire to the frame

This could be in a spot that is hard to see from the top down. If you could get it up on a lift, look for the ground strap from the engine to the frame. Usually to the firewall at the back.

Save

BenzBill

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 10, 2003

Based on advice I'd received, I replaced the starter/solenoid assy again, this time with a...

Based on advice I'd received, I replaced the starter/solenoid assy again, this time with a "World Class" rebuild & everything is fine. What someone else theorized was that the "clutch" on the starter shaft could have been sticking. Apparently, this clutch is there to protect the starter after engine start if (or when) the engine turns faster than the starter. Anyway, it's a done deal now. All is OK for now. Thanx for all the help.

Save

StrichAcht 240D

· #9 · Feb 10, 2003

Problem is the AC Delco unit - get a nice rebuilt from a quality company - not sure who do...

Problem is the AC Delco unit - get a nice rebuilt from a quality company - not sure who does MB's....

Save

1 - 9 of 9 Posts

Status: Not open for further replies.

Top Contributors this Month