Ted Blank writes:
> The starter won't crank the engine!. I get a strong whirr from the starter
> moter but it doesn't seem to be engaging the engine. Is this a bad starter
> or should I look elsewhere before considering rebuild or replace?
>
Excuse my ignorance, but do late Spitfires have pre-engaged starter motors? If
they do, there is another
possibility: When the Good Lord Triumph converted from inertia to pre-engaged
starters, he made no
modifications to the flywheel. This is fine except that the pre-engaged
starter acts in the opposite direction to
the inertia version i.e. it throws its gear backward (towards the rear of the
car) and over a period of time it
gradually moves the ring gear in the same direction until the magic day come
when the two gears no longer
engage. The one on mine had moved about a quarter of an inch and was marginal
in operation. (The older style
inertia gear is thrown forwards, but the ring gear can't go anywhere because of
a flange on the flywheel.)
It is certainly quite a common problem on 6 cylinder engines of mid to late
seventies vintage but I have no idea
whether the same thing happens to Spitfires, Dolomites etc. To cure it, it is
probably best to remove the
flywheel and then the ring gear completely. Then either fit a new gear if the
old one is badly worn or just to
re-shrink the old one on in the usual way. To prevent it happening again it is
worth tack welding the ring to the
flywheel - I put 4 tacks on mine, 90 degrees apart so as not to upset the
balance of the flywheel.
As an alternative, it may be possible to tap the gear back on using a slide
hammer and an appropriately shaped
hook behind the ring gear through the starter motor hole, rotating the engine
slowly so that the gear goes on
evenly.
Even if this is not the answer to Ted's problem, if you have a 4 or 6 cylinder
Triumph with a pre-engaged starter it
will probably pay you to check that thr ring gear is hard up against the flange
on the flywheel and take steps to
rectify the problem, say, if your about to renew the clutch or gearbox or.....
Phil
TSSC 13/60 Secretary
From: Phil Willson
Electronic Engineering
Queen Mary and Westfield College
Mile End Road
London E1 4NS
Tel +44 (0)171 975 5338
Fax +44 (0)181 981 0259
email p.j.willson@qmw.ac.uk
|