Michael -
It's supposed to move that easily. The pinion is actually pulled into
contact with the ring gear by the fact that the starter is rotating
rapidly, and held there as long as the starter is trying to turn faster
than the engine. (That counterclockwise motion you were talking
about.) Once the engine catches (and is now turning faster than the
starter), the pinion is thrown off the ring gear. Rather clever,
actually.
There is a spring to help the pinion retract away from the flywheel.
When you release the pinion (after sliding it along) it should spring
back to its original position.
I'd take a look at the ring gear on the flywheel (bright light, mirror
and some contortions while the starter is out). If the ring gear is
chewed up, replacing the starter is just going to result in another
chewed up pinion in the not too distant future.
Unfortunately, fixing the ring gear means pulling the engine, so you may
want to put up with replacing the pinions on starters for a while. (The
pinion is available from the ususal suspects (Moss, VB) for under $20
each. George Merriweather can probably get them for less for you.)
Chris Kotting
ckotting@iwaynet.net
Michael Graziano wrote:
>
> Well, my starter's been warning me that it was tired for 2 months or so, and
>finally went to sleep
> Saturday night. Now I have three replacement starters (thanx carl and john)
>whose conditions are
> unknown.
>
> My question pertains to the gear that engages the flywheel. How's that damm
>thing supposed to
> work? On my old starter, it moves quite easily up and down shaft (in a
>counterclockwise motion).
> THe teeth on it are completely shot (that's what the problem was). One of
>the new ones moves down
> the shaft easily as well, but another one doesn't move at all (even hooked
>up to the starter
> solenoid).
>
> Is that gear supposed to move along the shaft easily or is there something in
>the housing where it's
> connected that aids its movement. I'm curious b/c I don't know if mine being
>chewed up was a result
> of that easy movement.
>
> Mike
>
> '78 Midget
> '87 300zx (in need of a complete scrubdown)
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