Starter Motors

How to upgrade your Austin...and further......
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fsmlittler
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Starter Motors

Post by fsmlittler »

We originally fitted a nice new uprated Powerlite pre-engaged starter motor as we were concerned about a traditional inertia starter being strong enough to cope with the raised compression. Since day one it has been troublesome sometimes not engaging at all, other times engaging with a clunk. When we stripped the motor most recently it looked like it had chipped a few teeth on the ring gear and it seemed most likely that this was because the ramp on the ring gear was on the wrong side. My understanding is that pre engaged starters approach the ring gear from the other side compared to inertia starters. I sent the flywheel back to MED to ask them to fit new ring gear and to put it on the other way around. MED responded saying they believed that starter motor was incorrect and it was a problem most likely caused by the number of teeth being incompatible with the starter. They had never heard of the ring gear being fitted the other way round although they couldn't explain why the teeth had been chipped on the none ramped side....
I agreed to get new gear fitted the same as before because I need it back quickly but I am now wondering if I should have stuck to my guns. I guess I'll need to fit an inertia starter now?
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gazza82
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Re: Starter Motors

Post by gazza82 »

Minis had two types of starter: inertia (as per A35/Midget) and pre-engaged and these had different numbers of "teeth" on the ring gear and starter. Inertia pulls into the flywheel from the "back" ie gearbox side and the pre-engaged is as it sounds and drives from the "front" ie engine side.

I've been trying to find out of the mini starter ring gear is the same size as the A35/Midget then I could fit a Mini pre-engaged starter with the correct number of teeth to a Midget flywheel.

As these seem to be fairly common on racing Midget's I would have thought one specifically sold for the A35/Midget would have the right number of gear teeth for the standard pre-engaged ring gear .. and someone like MED who deals with both marques would know .. :?
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Cars: "Project 757" '59 A35 2-door bought in 1971 & Subaru BRZ SE LUX Auto plus "family fleet": Alfa MiTo, Peugeot 206, (Ex '98 Alfa Romeo 156 2.0 TS)
Edosan
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Re: Starter Motors

Post by Edosan »

I know of another member who bought a pre-engaged starter from one of the main classic suppliers only to find that the unit supplied had the wrong number of teeth and he had to exchange it for the correct item which is now fitted and works fine, so sounds like you need to be careful when you are buying pre-engaged starters! :wave:
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