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The bendix gear (I believe it's called) portion of my starter seems to be wearing out. The threads are worn to the point that when there is pressure on the gear it compresses the internal spring enough so that the bendix can "skip" on the threads instead of turning the flywheel. These are the internal fine threads that spin the gear out, not the external gear threads that engage the flywheel (those are fine). I was wondering if the gear portion of the starter was available for purchase? Has anyone had a similar experience? I'm hoping to not have to replace the whole starter again.
With the starter out, I'm able to duplicate the issue with a pair of wrenches. With one holding the shaft still, I can turn the gear so that it slides up and then "click", "click", "click" as it continues to skip across the worn down bendix gears.
As a further test, I placed a couple washers on the bottom of the shaft to keep the spring from compressing as much on the bottom. With this hack I was able to turn the engine over and she easily started right up. No power or solenoid issue. It's far from anything I want to run with. I'm hoping it will hold for one more start since we've been told by the yard we need to launch tomorrow to get out of the way..
I'm assuming starter rebuild shops usually only deal with rebuilding the starter motor itself? It's a pretty intricate part to have fabricated.
Any information, thoughts, or suggestions would be appreciated.
With the starter out, I'm able to duplicate the issue with a pair of wrenches. With one holding the shaft still, I can turn the gear so that it slides up and then "click", "click", "click" as it continues to skip across the worn down bendix gears.
As a further test, I placed a couple washers on the bottom of the shaft to keep the spring from compressing as much on the bottom. With this hack I was able to turn the engine over and she easily started right up. No power or solenoid issue. It's far from anything I want to run with. I'm hoping it will hold for one more start since we've been told by the yard we need to launch tomorrow to get out of the way..
I'm assuming starter rebuild shops usually only deal with rebuilding the starter motor itself? It's a pretty intricate part to have fabricated.
Any information, thoughts, or suggestions would be appreciated.