[Healeys] Balky Starter on BN2

[WILLIAM B LAWRENCE]

I would go with your first theory. During production the starters were assembled to the engines before they were painted so the mounting surfaces were probably bare metal. In restoration we tend to paint everything as it is rebuilt, so there was probably a lot more paint between the mounting surfaces than they originally came with.

Bill Lawrence
BN1 #554
________________________________
From: Healeys <healeys-bounces at autox.team.net> on behalf of Bob Spidell <bspidell at comcast.net>
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2019 2:39 AM
To: Michael Oritt
Cc: Healeys
Subject: Re: [Healeys] Balky Starter on BN2


Could be, but there's not much wiggle room with the bolts.


On 5/21/2019 6:38 PM, Michael Oritt wrote:
Or perhaps there was some slight misalignment causing the pinion to jam ever-so-slightly against the ring gear which was corrected when you reinstalled the starter.

Best--Michael Oritt

On Tue, May 21, 2019 at 7:20 PM Bob Spidell <bspidell at comcast.net<mailto:bspidell at comcast.net>> wrote:
A while back, I posted a question to the List about the lame starter in
my BN2 (thanks for all the suggestions guys).  I tried various types of
jumping the starting system and checking connections and still the
starter wouldn't turn the engine over even one full turn.  I finally
pulled the starter and took it to a local shop; they opened it up and
inspected it and said the starter was in great shape, except from some
discoloration on the insulation of the field coils, which had obviously
gotten hot due to all the balked starting attempts.  They reassembled
the starter and gave it back (no charge ;).  So, I pulled the plugs to
check mixture and adjust the valves, put the plugs back in and gave it a
crank just for grins, not expecting any change.  Lo and behold, it
cranked just fine--for a 100--and fired on the third or fourth crank
(had been sitting for a while).  Nothing had been significantly changed,
though when I last installed the starter I had used grade 8 flat washers
under grade 8 split washers, and when I installed the starter this time
I decided the flat washers were unnecessary--the holes are 'right sized'
for the bolts--and left them out.  That is the only thing I changed
(except for adjusting the valve lash).  I can only surmise there was
enough resistance from the flat washers and the fairly thick coats of
paint on both the starter and the engine plate to impede current flow to
ground.  The split washers apparently dug through the layers of paint
and established a good ground.

Thought I'd pass this along.

Bob

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