MG-Cars.info

Welcome to our Site for MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey Car Information.

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Stuck Starter Bendix

Stupid question but, when turning the engine over by hand, the starter shouldn't be engaged and spinning too, correct? Cos mine does!

Wondering if a stuck Bendix thingy is causing the metallic tinkling/ringing/pinging type noise at ~1100 RPM as per my other thread. Or at least the first issue I have in a suite of issues! :-)

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Malcolm

(Why are noises so hard to describe?!)
M Le Chevalier

Yes it can!
And it will also fry your starter quickley.
Best bash it with a hammer
Onno K

You are correct - it shouldn't
Dave O'Neill 2

Bash and tap probably are not universal terms for freeing a starter, but it does work, for awhile

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

I had that problem once. Turned out that the shaft of the starter motor was slightly bent. If it lined up "correctly" the Bendix wouldn't disengage while the engine was running. I finally got tired of it and the last time it got stuck I just reved the engine to about 6000 RPM. That starter never got stuck again. Of course, it didn't work anymore but hey, I needed to replace it anyway.

The ratio of that Bendix gear to the ring gear was 9 to 1 so you can guess what the RPM of the starter was.
Martin Washington

Bendix gear remaining in mesh with the ring gear resulting in the starter being driven by the engine.

The starter is a dc motor, which if driven by the shaft becomes a dynamo with no control on O/P voltage. This is what set my sister's Austin 1100 on fire. (Not that I shed any tears lol).

Malc - it's not hard to correct. If you don't want to do it you can pull the starter and have it reconditioned. It should not be expensive and it's not hard to do yourself if you want to. There are still lots of places doing them on exchange basis even.
RS Hughes

Another thing to remember with the Bendix is to make sure that you have the right number of teeth for the ring gear. They come in 9 and 10 tooth configurations depending on car/engine combinations. Making sure they match makes for better wear on the ring gear.
Martin Washington

Pulled starter... Bendix wedged for sure.

Also... sheeesh my garage is a tip!



M Le Chevalier

Pic of teeth.

Cleaned things up as best I could using de-greasing solvent then lubed it up with some light oil. Spun it a few times with a battery and seems to be operating OK now. Also slides freely when operated by hand.

Think it will be OK to refit? (I am probably going to anyway!)

Cheers,
Malcolm

M Le Chevalier

Good stuff Malcolm.
As for lube I would probably go for either PTFE spray (which leaves only teflon as residue) or dry graphite lube. Even light oil will attract and hold dust and cack.
I'm sure it will be good to refit. If it works it works. If it works, quit fixing it!
RS Hughes

Yep avoid oil, it attracts clutch dust and eventually sticks again.
Bob Beaumont

This thread was discussed between 09/02/2015 and 10/02/2015

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archives. Join the live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS now