Starter Motor

[street]

After my no ignition post I took off engine mount and created good earth contact (removed fresh paint) and still nothing.

So took off starter motor, bench test and nothing, so dead starter, well not quite yet.

I popper the top off, and it is full of what i assume is some form of copper grease, everything coated, took out contacts and gave everything a good clean, good dose of electrical cleaner, assembled and guess what start motor turns.

Question...was I lucky do i find someone to rebuild or get a replacement, bear in mind i'm in NZ so not as many people to help.

thanks

[gjz30075]

Were you able to spin it fast enough to throw the pinion forward? Does the pinion move
freely on shaft?

[street]

Yes, pivot threw forward, yes it appears to

[SENC]

Check the bushes for play or visible wear. If they look OK, try to get a bit of oil in them. How much wear is there to the brushes and armature? If sufficient life left, a good cleaning and bush replacement or oiling is probably enough without a rebuild. Post some pictures for more advice if you want to rebuild yourself.

[Billmack]

I think you are good to go. Thats the beauty of old british cars...often things can be made to work with just a good cleaning. Probably a brush not making good contact

[street]

Struggling to upload photos, however bushes have 7/8mm depth on them, when you refer to oil, what specification do you refer to.

thanks

[SENC]

Struggling to upload photos, however bushes have 7/8mm depth on them, when you refer to oil, what specification do you refer to.

thanks

To be clear, I mean oil the sintered bronze bushings in the caps - I use the same oil as I put in the engine.

If you have 7/8" brushes, that should last a long while. I'll see if I can find my notes on size when new, but they can't be much bigger I don't think.

[street]

my starter has three large screws in the outer casing and two on front plate, will this enable me to widraw the unit from the casing without having to remove starter gear?

[skelteanema]

Hi Street,

like you I am in NZ. I recently had to change my starter and ended up getting a Powerlite unit from Paul Matty. My Lucas starter was fine, but I managed to break a mounting lug off when putting the starter back on after an engine removal/install. I am waiting for an end plate to come up on trademe so I can fix it.

I did find a place in NZ that supplied Lucas style starters and was tempted to by a one. In case you need a new one and want to get it locally, I think the following is the one suitable for a Elan:

https://www.as-parts.nz/product/2012076

[street]

great to know, thanks

[lotusfan]

Struggling to upload photos, however bushes have 7/8mm depth on them, when you refer to oil, what specification do you refer to.

thanks

To be clear, I mean oil the sintered bronze bushings in the caps - I use the same oil as I put in the engine.

If you have 7/8" brushes, that should last a long while. I'll see if I can find my notes on size when new, but they can't be much bigger I don't think.

street actually said he had 7/8 mm which sounds a bit short whereas 7/8 inch is maybe acceptable.

my starter has three large screws in the outer casing and two on front plate, will this enable me to widraw the unit from the casing without having to remove starter gear?

I think you will find that the 3 large screws in the outer casing hold the field coils in place and do not need to be removed to get at the brushes. Removing the 2 long screws in the end plate will allow you to remove the rotor.

[SENC]

Good catch, Mike, perhaps he was quoting the measured thickness of the bushing "wall", as a 7/8mm brush would be worthless. Street - if the armature spins easily and if there isn't any lateral play, the bushings are likely ok - but they can wear unevenly and that is noticeable. They can also get grit between the bushing and spindle and cause gouging and wear, or just wear from lack of lubrication. The sintered bronze bushings are typically soaked overnight in oil so they "absorb" it and are self-lubricating, but if the ones in place are good enough you can force some oil into the pores with finger pressure. As Mike noted, the 2 bolts in the commutator end cap run all the way through to the bracket end cap - remove them and you can slip everything out of the casing (except the windings). To remove the armature from the cap to get to the bushing on that end, you need to remove the pinion gear by compressing the spring and removing the clip - I have an old tool for that purpose and can post some pictures if you need a visual to work out how to create/craft something that will work.

Forgot I'd started a thread a while back as I was rebuilding mine... there are a few pictures that might be helpful.

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=47199

[Bigbaldybloke]

If the commutator is badly scored or grooved you can give it a light skim in a lathe to clean it up, the minimum diameter should be in the manual somewhere (I don’t have mine to hand to check). You should also really fit new brushes at the same time, again not too difficult if you can source some locally. Make sure the bendix is in good condition and clean and dry and your starter should last several more years.

[oldchieft]

The skim is easy, I have never been good at the undercut of the mica.

Anyone know a foolproof way?

Jon the Chief

[HCA]

The only time a starter commutator needs a skim is if it is out of round.

A starter commutator does not need undercutting. Only undercut the mica on a dynamo…