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Poor mesh of Bendix gear with flywheel

T

Terry in Ottawa

Contributing Member
What determines the degree of meshing between the Bendix gear and the flywheel? My engagement is pretty thin and it seems to be wearing out the lower part of the teeth on the flywheel.
 
Very common on these all cast iron flywheels.-----No idea why they designed this other then it was cheaper to make.
 
You could have the wrong starter, and the gear might be the wrong size. has it been changed? Aftermarket? It should be much closer and higher in the flywheel. From your pic. It appears to be too low hence the flywheel has wear on just the bottom half of it.
 
Flywheel generally stops at the same places.----Pinion comes up and hits the brittle cast iron.-----The stuff breaks.-----Another example of a manufacturer forced to cut corners.----This did not happen on earlier steel ring gears !!!
 
Breakpads said:
You could have the wrong starter, and the gear might be the wrong size. has it been changed? Aftermarket? It should be much closer and higher in the flywheel. From your pic. It appears to be too low hence the flywheel has wear on just the bottom half of it.
Click to expand...
It has been the same flywheel and the same starter since I've had it, for about 10 years now. However, a tree fell on the motor this spring and that seems to have caused the misalignment. I had the starter and bracket off, and disassembled the starter, but I don't see anything bent and I don't see any method of adjusting the mesh, that is, bringing the Bendix gear closer to the flywheel.

The picture shows my first view of the damage after removing the engine cover. What is the purpose of the stud and lock nut at the red arrow?IMG_6697 (2).jpg
 
One thing to check out is to see if the bendix spring is driving the starter gear all the way up, if it is week it will not go high enough on the flywheel. A lot of times the spring will lose its ability to send the gear up enough also lube the drive shaft of that gear
 
Buying a new part without understanding the problem can be a waste of money. I couldn’t figure out why my starter motor was not fully engaging with the flywheel teeth. A new starter motor did not result in a better mesh. A tree had fallen on the engine cover and the starter took the brunt of the force. I replaced the starter as I didn’t see any deformations in the starter bracket or on the engine casings. Is there an adjustment for the mesh between the gears of the starter and the teeth of the flywheel?
 
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