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When I hooked up my battery last week, I looked forward to the pleasant sound of the engine turning over. I wasn't even trying to start it; I just wanted to hear the starter motor crank the engine. What I got was an unholy racket and soon after a dead battery. I took the starter out, and checked it on a newly charged battery. Barely anything. So, I took it to a auto electrical guy that been in business in the same place since the 1950's. He mentioned bad ground brushes and a bearing that needed replacing. I paid him for his work, put the motor back in and I get the same horrible noise. Also, even with the plugs out, the starter seems to be turning the motor over much slower than I recall. (It has been quite a while since I even tried to crank it.) Okay, the crankshaft turns nicely, and there is no noise of rubbing or grating on anything. The one thing that I did was have the flywheel resurfaced and I installed a new ring gear. The gear is a good fit around the flywheel. It does have 146 teeth (just like the old one). The pinion on the starter has nine teeth, as it is supposed to. I tried it with the old bendix and a new one. Same horrible noise. I do not even know what to look for now. I'm thinking of taking the tranny and clutch off and see what it does then. I'm so frustrated that I am considering putting the old ring gear back on, even though some of the teeth are in really bad shape. But, at least it used to crank over with the old ring gear. Here are photos of my old ring gear. One shot shows the bad teeth. The other shows teeth that aren't quite as bad.
Just a quick additional note. I took the starter out again and noticed it appears that the teeth are meshing too tightly. I can see that the high points of the ring gear seem to be actually contacting the low points in the pinion gear. But there does not appear to be anyway to adjust the amount of mesh between the gears.
1953 f100 with three-speed and 215.
My starter has a three-bolt mount to the bell housing: a top and bottom and a side. I stuck a washer between the bell housing and the starter at the side mounting bolt , effectively angling the starter pinion a little bit away from the ring gear. I turned the key and it sounds great. The motor turns over fine at a good clip without any groaning or grinding. My question to anyone reading this this post: is there a way that these starters can be shimmed? Does it sound like the new ring gear I got is just another example of the crummy quality of reproduction parts? After a new ring gear goes on, is there some machining of the teeth that is expected?
Is there a way you could check the highs and lows of each ring gear. Maybe the new one could have gotten milled a bit more before they sent it out. What about flipping the old one around and use the good side. Can that be done?
The fit to the flywheel is good; the ring gear sits tight and evenly all around. Even if if it was off a bit, it wouldn't cause the over-tight mesh of the teeth. I am considering taking the tranny, pressure plate and flywheel off, and putting my old one back on. For the moment, shimming the starter out with a washer has made all the difference.
This is one of those times when a tube of Prussian Blue, a small brush and a lot of patience (read: beer and nothing better to do) comes in handy. I feel for ya buddy, it seems so many things we do should work but only prove to provide another issue - the bane of working on old stuff.
Have you checked the starter bushing? Possibly if it was worn it might allow the shaft to kick to one side and cause a mesh fault.
Hi all,
yes, the rear plate is in. And the starter just got new bushings when I took it to the shop thinking that the starter was the problem. I am convinced now that the ring gear is a bit too large. It is definitely meshing way to tightly with the pinion gear on the bendix. Tomorrow I'm dropping the tranny, taking out the pressure plate and clutch, and removing the flywheel. I intend to reinstall the old ring gear turned around. This isn't a bad job except it would have been a lot easier to do it while the engine was out.
I am not sure but I believe the ring gear should only be installed one way. Is it possible you put the wrong side of the ring gear toward the starter? If you remove everything you should be able to see if the new ring gear is larger than the old one. When a ring gear is changed usually you cut it with a torch to get it off then have to warm the new one to get it pressed on to the fly wheel. How did you change yours with out cutting it? Hope you get your problem solved.
