VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Starter

I've got a 1952 Chevy truck with the original 216 engine. After having the starter rebuilt, it meets that the bendix isn't matching up with the teeth on the flywheel. Is there some adjustment I need to do? If yes, how? Or any other thoughts would be appreciated.

You probably need to adjust the linkage so that the Starter starts spinning BEFORE the bendix gets to the flywheel. Or the contact surface is worn away and energizing the starter comes too late. If the bendix slams into the flywheel and is not spinning, it won't mesh. Common problem.

Have someone slowly push on the starter pedal and see if the bendix is all the way back to the end of travel before contact is made to energize the starter.

I can hear the bendix hit the flywheel before the starter starts. Can you tell me how to adjust the linkage (everything seems permanently attached). Thanks.

Any one have any ideas? I don't think it's the linkage - it's all fixed (unadjustable). I took the starter back to the shop, the starter works fine & the correct bendix was installed. They said that with a manual foot peddle starter, the starter motor is not to kick in before the bendix reaches the flywheel, where as with a solenoid starter it does. OK, I admit I'm a rookie - does anyone have any suggestions to figure out what's going on? Thanks.

rcborst,

Could you tell me why the starter was removed and overhauled in the first place?? Didn't see that in your first post.

Jim.

Don't know if you have the 6 volt or 12 volt system but their is a difference in the tooth count between the 6 & 12 volt starter bendix's & they are not interchangable.

Mixing them up will result in a buncha racket when you step on the starter pedal.

Since you stated that it was just rebuilt... it may be that the shop that rebuilt it installed the wrong bendix.

Interesting. My buddy just got an original 1/2 ton 51 pickup and it has the pushbutton starter. When was the change from foot to pushbutton?

No such thing as a push button starter in a 1951 truck { that is original anyway }.

All 1947-1955 first series 1/2 ton Chevy & GMC trucks had foot stomp starters.

The only acception would have been the automatic transmission Powerglide & Hydramatic equipped trucks from 1954 & 1955.1 .

Power Glide Trucks 1954-1955? Never heard of one.
Foot pedal starters continued on 6 cylinder stick shift trucks through 1959.

Mike

Jim; Due to a generator problem (wouldn't charge the battery), the truck sat for about 2 months; after getting that fixed I tried to start it and the starter wouldn't engauge the flywheel. The electric shop that rebuilt it specializes in rebuilds; they didn't tell me specifically what all they did (other than installing new bushings), but said it needed a lot of work. Thanks for any ideas/suggestions. Bob

Mine is a 6 volt system; do you know how many teeth our on the bendix? The one the shop installed has 9 teeth. Thanks for the help.

The 6 Volt '41-'54 starters had 9 teeth & the matching wide tooth ring gear had 139 teeth.

The 12 Volt '55 & up ring gear had 162 teeth.

If your tooth count matches the 6 volt set up.... it might be that your ring gear is worn or notched where it makes contact with the starter gear.

Mothertrucker; thanks for the response. When they rebuilt the starter, they installed a new starter gear. Any ideas what I could check out? Thanks for the help. Bob

Like I said ... the ring gear on your flywheel may be worn.

Replacing the ring gear is a big job but, an old mechanics trick is to simply remove the ring gear & flip it around & reinstall it with the good side of the teeth towards the starter gears.

Or it could be as simple as adjusting the switch on top of the starter.
The switch mounting holes are elongated to allow for forward & aft adjustment of the switch....
If the switch is adjusted too far back towards the firewall... the switch will prematurely turn the starter over before the starter gears are fully engaged with the flywheel {resulting in that grinding sound}.

If you slide the starter switch foward ... it will delay the starter turning over until the starter gear is fully engaged with the flywheel gears.
Every car is different but I have even had to elongate the starter switch mounting holes to allow for even more adjustment than offered by the stock starter switch mount.

Guess someone changed it to pushbutton. The hole for the foot starter is still there.