Starter Motor & Solenoid

You will have to remove the starter one way or another ....... then ......

Try grabbing the gear on the starter and rotating it. I found that sometimes it would rotate in only one direction and other attempts it would rotate in either direction with ease.
I have never pulled one apart but it appears there must be a one way clutch in it to allow the starter to drive the flywheel but not be driven once the engine cranks.

If that one way clutch fails then the starter cant drive the flywheel even though the motor is spinning and the soleniod has moved the gear forward and engaged it with the flywheel.

I have just replaced mine with a lightweight starter I got on e-bay. I was unlucky and mine had poor threads where it mounted to the crankcase ........... Check if you buy one.

The upside is the car starts beautifully now.

My plan is to fix whatever is up with the original starter and put it on the shelf as a spare.

 

........a little more info here

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=284103

 

There is no clutch in the starter. The solenoid is an electromagnet that pulls a plunger that has a lever that pushes the starter gear out into the flywheel. At the same time this happens contact is made to the +12V battery lead which powers the starter motor. The starter gear is on a screw type shaft and is spring loaded so that when current is released it returns back into the starter.It only spins one way. If the starter motor spins and the gear does not engage there can be a few problems. 1 is a weak solenoid and another is worn teeth on the flywheel and another could be worn brushes (won't spin fast enough to spin out the gear) in the starter motor . First clean all of the contacts and check the grounds. If still no good then you will need to pull the starter and bench test it. Good luck

 

just replaced my soleniod. removing the starter is a twenty minute job. dissconnect the battery. remove drivers side wheel and well liner. remove three bolts holding the starter. they are at nine oclock to eleven o clock on the forward side of the engine. once free, drop the starter to dissconnect wiring. one nut holds the cables and a slip on connector to the soleniod. remove starter from wheel well side. there may be a large braided hose in the way it's for the crankcase vent just unhook it if it's in the way although mine wasn't an issue. take the starter to any reputable local starter/ altenator shop and have them check it. it's a bosch part and easily crossreferenced. i payed $25 dollars for my soleniod.

 

On my 82 Mondial 8 I had similar issues changing to new lite weight starter did NOT cure it. This issue and a number of others went away with fuse/relay panel upgrade replacement.

 

We may be dealing with a couple of different types of starters here ...... the original on my car had the 3 large wires very easy to get to mounted at the back of the starter.
The heat shield over the starter must be removed to get the starter out on my car.
Mine is a euro model by the way (UK delivered) .
Will post some pics of the starter soon so we can establish possible differences

 

Here's my original starter motor , , with a minimum 3.5 years or dirt and grime .. actually its probably 29 years of filth.

I tried that gear again and it is definitely behaving oddly. It can be turned with fingers and some effort. Then on other attempts it will spin very freely clockwise ........ upon further attempts it will spin freely either direction ......... then suddenly it is hard to turn again.

What is a Bendix spline ?? ...... a photo would help enourmously please
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Woody, is your lawn tractor battery a twelve volt battery?

 

My starter is definitely different to woody's , , I have attched some more pics. Is either one typical of 308's ?

My car is euro 81 vintage

It weighs 20lbs exactly
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I should have been a bit clearer in what I meant



I agree totally that the gear should only spin in one direction , by clutch I meant some kind of one-way clutch / roller. The Bendix like spline Woody mentioned is what I am talking about. I didn't mean a clutch as in the classic sense of the term.

I'm more used to a lot of motorcycle terms so I may not be 100% clear at times.

 

what's going on in there is the soleniod activates the plunger which works a forked lever on a spiral geared shaft. the lever engages the drive gear at the end of the shaft with the teeth on the flywheel. when the engine fires the drive gear is thrown back, through centrifugal force to its' starting position. this mechanism is the bendix drive. in the old days starters were engaged by a foot pedal that pushed the starter over to the flywheel. what happens to the soleniod is inside there is a contact washer or plate that when current is introduced it activates the plunger. each time a little arc leaves a tiny spot on the washer. over time the washer becomes pitted and dirty. this prevents the current from completing the circuit and the starter doesn't activate. sometimes you can tap on the soleniod with a hammer, thus dislodging some of the detrius on the washer and allowing the current to make contact. you really need to clean the drive area on your starter. there is a bearing in there so don't use anything that might wash to lubricant out of that bearing. i used a small wire brush and some lacquer thinner on a rag. wd40 could work too.