Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I would totally agree with all Wylie's comments on the pre-engage.

They seem to concur with my findings on my high torque starter. I.e. that it was not engaging as far as ideal.

Take care,
Peter

ebc699 wrote:With pre engaged starters, I would check that the pinion is engaging fully with the ring gear.
. . . I did some measuring to check how far the pinion was advancing into the gear and discovered that it was only engaging across about half the width of the teeth. This was confirmed by the faint index marks on the pinion teeth.
...Cheers,
Wylie

I finally got some time/weather/enough daylight hours to pull the carbs and than the starter. What I found was exactly as Wylie described but less than half the engagement with the ring gear teeth. The starter in the car is a Kelsport unit so I've e-mailed tham to see if they have a different spacer/mount/ The engagement on my set-up was approx. 5mm while the pinion (9-tooth) is almost 14 mm deep. I'm hoping that I won't have to replace the ring gear if I can get better pinion-to-ring gear engagement. Wish me luck or let me know if there is another source for mounting flanges. Thanks.

Bill

Just to tidy this thread - I had approx 5mm taken off the mounting face of the starter spacer to move the pinion in closer to the ring gear. It now engages without grinding. The previous damage to the ring gear may mean the gear will have a reduced life but at least I can drive the car for a while longer without worrying about having to pull the engine!!

Usually the horrible crunching noise is just a starter euther stuck or broken. I have a similar problem at the moment and have looked into replacing the starter, i notice that Holden do a replacement powerlite unit which is supposed to be better than the original , dies anybody have any experience with these?

Frank Howard wrote:Hey Peter!

I'm freezing here in Minneapolis. Thanks for your response. Just some information for the list.

I ordered a Gustafson Super Starter (high torque, pre-engaged) a few years ago. The starter is based on a Nippondenso starter.

A note for those in the US. AutoZone sells those starters with a lifetime guarantee. Take the old one, remove the nose/mounting plate and gear, and take it to the Zone. (Don't forget, you'll have to buy the first one to get the receipt, which is required. They used to be around $50.00)