Starter takeapart - anybody done it?

[simplyconnected]

Nyles, I don't know why mine did not lock into place. According to the picture, these spring-loaded stops should have dropped into the depressions right in front on this picture:



I did read the Service Manual and it does agree with your findings.

As a side note, these starter motors can be mounted with the teeth engaged. The starter motor in my site is and has been in service on our '59 Y-Block for years. - Dave

[Tbird1044]

Dave:
I was fighting it for a while to reinstall the starter when I found the info on getting the drive to retract. Wiggling the starter back in is pretty tight and when the drive gear was engaged it would get close but not slip in. Maybe I gave up to easily. All good once I got the drive retracted.
Since we all struggle with so many of the same problems, it's great to have this site to share info.
Nyles

[sidewalkman]

Thanks for the complement, Scott. I once knew a gracious and beautiful woman who was from Vancouver Island. She was Howard Prout's wife, Jean Prout. I used to call her, 'a real Canadian girl.'

Hey Dave, I can see Vancouver Island from my window!

[simplyconnected]

I'm in Detroit (where Canada is one mile away across the Detroit River). I love Canada and I love the woods but I also love my handguns, so I don't go there much anymore. I won't go in the woods without a sidearm.

Sorry but, GO DETROIT RED WINGS!

[sidewalkman]

I'm in Detroit (where Canada is one mile away across the Detroit River). I love Canada and I love the woods but I also love my handguns, so I don't go there much anymore. I won't go in the woods without a sidearm.

Sorry but, GO DETROIT RED WINGS!

What's a handgun????

lol, I live literally 12 blocks from a US border. You can have the Wings, I gave up on the Canucks years ago. but Go Patriots

[Ickaber]

I know how. CLICK HERE
Follow the instructions on each page.
- Dave

Dave, what happened to your starter rebuild instructions? The link doesn't work anymore.

[Tbird1044]

Scott:
Whenever Dave posts, there is a link at the bottom of the post for an FE roller cam etc. If you click on that post, it will open and much of the rebuild info is there including the starter overhaul. I found out the hard way when I needed the info on the rocker assemblies.
Nyles

[simplyconnected]

Scott, try it now. I had to move the site, now I have to fix all the links.

Comcast deleted all personal web pages for all their customers. That was a 'deal breaker' for me. After many years with Comcast, I said, 'biddy-bye-bye' to them. Robin said I should have done it a long time ago because there is no such thing as 'customer/company loyalty' outside of profits.

Let's see how AT&T pans out... - Dave

[Ickaber]

Thanks, Dave, it's working now. And, of course, there's a reason I was asking. The $40 rebuilt starter I put in last year only lasted a few months before going out. I don't know what was wrong with it, but it wouldn't turn the engine. So, I took it out and took it back in to O'Reilly, they tested it as bad as well, and then they covered it under the lifetime warranty, even though the one I had is no longer in their system. They gave me one they did have that was normally $116 for no charge.

So that was all good, until I grabbed the drive and spun it while it was still sitting on the counter in the parts store and locked the drive out. (And then immediately read the bright orange sticker that says not to or you'll void your warranty.)

I wasn't worried though, and came straight home and logged on to squarebirds.org knowing that you guys would help me solve my idiocy. (Well, there's probably not really a cure for it -- I've had it for a long time. ) But then I came across this thread where Nyles was nice enough to point out the youtube video on how to reset it. I was fortunate enough to have taken the drive off my old starter before buying the new one last year, so still had that. It was already locked out, so I decided to play with it first before taking the drive off the new starter motor. Unfortunately, the wire wheel in the drill trick didn't work, no matter which way I spun it.

So I started looking closer and found that on the drive -- this is from a '63 -- if I held it at just the right angle, in just the right light, I thought I could see the pin. So I got out an old dental hook and was able to push the pin back in and spin the drive back up by hand -- you just have to get the initial edge past the pin. It worked on both the drive that was off the starter motor as well as the one that was on the new starter motor. It may not work on all of these types of drives, but worked on both of the ones I had for my bulletbird.

Here are a couple of pics to show where I was looking. I hope it helps someone else. The pin is just below the surface in the red box and slides to the outside of the casing.

[simplyconnected]

I've had these starters out of my Y-blocks and FEs, both with the drive pulled out. I never had an issue mounting and running the starter motor with the drive gear out. That is why I did not cover this issue.

Why on earth would that void your warranty? It is a normal function of the starter drive gear.

With your permission, I will include your work-around in my site for others to find more easily (since our search engine is poor). Ok, Scott? - Dave

[Ickaber]

Absolutely okay, Dave. As much as you (and others here) have helped me, a couple of pics is the least I can offer. Feel free to download the pics and use them as you see fit. I'll even send you the originals, if you'd prefer.

[Tbird1044]

I also locked my starter drive and that is what prompted me to find a way to "unlock" it. Maybe I was lucky, but I played with mine several times and was always able to get it unlocked by spinning it fast enough. It will be good to document another method. If the starter drive is locked in the engaged position, there is virtually no way you are going to get the starter back in.
Nyles

[simplyconnected]

Absolutely okay, Dave. As much as you (and others here) have helped me, a couple of pics is the least I can offer. Feel free to download the pics and use them as you see fit. I'll even send you the originals, if you'd prefer.

Check it out now, Scott. Click on the blue (Bendix Gear) button when it loads. - Dave

[Ickaber]

If the starter drive is locked in the engaged position, there is virtually no way you are going to get the starter back in.
Nyles

This was my experience as well, Nyles. I tried to put it back in with the drive extended, but just couldn't get it to go. Once I "unlocked" it, it slid right in.

Check it out now, Scott. Click on the blue (Bendix Gear) button when it loads. - Dave

Looks good, Dave! The attribution was unnecessary, but appreciated. I hope someone else finds it and it helps them. The advantage I see to just pushing the pin in is that the drive doesn't need to be off the starter. And it only takes a few seconds. When I was putting my starter in after unlocking it, I must have caught the top edge of the drive on something as I pushed it in, because I couldn't get it to seat, so pulled it back out and found that I had somehow extended and locked the drive again. I grabbed the hook, unlocked it, and was back in business.