bedix???

[German guy]

I left my '30 Mod A in a cold barn from Nov through March without starting it...but on a battery trainer to keep it charged. Never had any starting issues before. When I tried to start it two weeks ago I got the tell-tale whirring sound that seemed to indicate a Bendix problem but on the third or fourth try it started. I replaced the Bendix but for some reason the it does not seem to engage. Frustrated. The starter is doing its whirring thing...just not engaging the Bendix. Any advice?

[nkaminar]

Try a light oil or a modern Bendix.

[Kurt in NJ]

A weak battery/bad connections can cause those symptoms too

[Bob Bidonde]

Here is my recommendation:

[Phil Brown]

Yep, pull the starter forward and a few drops of a lightweight oil on the bendix spiral area to get it moving freely and you should be good to go.
Just dont over do it with the oil

[katy]

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Originally Posted by German guy

When I tried to start it two weeks ago I got the tell-tale whirring sound that seemed to indicate a Bendix problem but on the third or fourth try it started.

That's usually caused by the drive gear hanging up on the spiral. That in turn is caused by too heavy an oil or crud (oily dirt) on the spiral. Washing the Bendix in solvent or diesel fuel usually cures the problem.

[ronn]

I agree with Kurt. Had the same happen on a couple of tractors.
new battery and good to go.

[Big hammer]

If you use the modern bendix, be aware that they don’t engage fully into the flywheel ring gear completely, that I’ve read. You might need to shim the starter motor out to get more contact with the flywheel, Synders sell shims. My choice is a rebuilt original or a new usa made bendix

[Rob Doe]

I recently went through the drive train on our coupe. I removed a bendix that looked like the modern one shown above. It was not fully engaging the ring gear. The teeth on the gear were chewed.When the starter was used, the noise was loud and seemed almost violent. There were no shims on the starter.

I've read that it would take ~ .150??? of shims to properly engage the teeth of the ring gear, and that the violent nature comes from having a greater length / distance for the bendix pinion gear to pick up speed.

A new 'stock' bendix and ring gear were installed.

[katy]

Originally Posted by Big hammer

My choice is a rebuilt original or a new usa made bendix

Agreed, back in the '50s and '60s that's all we used (that's all that was available) on As and flathead V8s and hardly ever any problems with them.

[Chuck Sea/Tac]

The bolt will break on the modern one, just like the original. The difference is, it is contained and won’t fall to the bottom of the fly housing. IMHO, you should pull the starter every few thousand miles and verify/replace the bolts, as a maintenance item. Or just wait until one breaks and then use your crank!

[German guy]

Thanks all for the input. Problem solved though your assist.


What was it? I pulled the new bendix twice following comments regarding my wrong-headed use of grease before installing it. First time to clean it with solvent and apply a very thin coat of very light machine oil. Second time with the flywheel door open and checking the ability of the bendix to mate properly. It looked fine. Then I moved on to the comments about battery as a cause. I doubted this would be it as it is a new Red Head 1000 A battery kept on a trainer...but. Other electrical craziness started happening so I checked every connection in the car one by one. I opened the drivers side kick panel and found that the windshield wiper wire had managed to move just close enough to the back of the battery cut-off switch that I had added to make occasional light contact. Over time it made just enough contact to the poles on the switch to burn through the insulation and cause intermittent shorts. It was leaching off of the battery via the cut-off switch. Removed the switch, replaced the wiper wiring and voila starts like a charm. Thanks again.

[Ray in La Mesa]

Glad to hear you found the problem.

[Brentwood Bob]

Thanks for detailing your fix. We all benefit from the followup.

[Rob Doe]

X2 on thanks for detailing the fix.

[Y-Blockhead]

I have never had an issue with my modern starter drive. But as a preventative measure I wanted the gear teeth to engage farther into the ring gear so I made this spacer.

The shims Snyder's has are only about .003" piece of paper.



I have never seen the bolt break (set screw??) on the Modern Drive.