Starter motor sticking....
Discussion
Hello Chaps.....my starter motor occassionally fails...the solenoid just clicks and no spinny spinny. 
A pain cos' I always have to park on a slope.
I am minded to replace it with a reconditioned one. (The battery is fully charged) My question is...is it a standard Granada starter motor...if so does any body know the part no.
Cheers in advance...Paul.
A pain cos' I always have to park on a slope.
I am minded to replace it with a reconditioned one. (The battery is fully charged) My question is...is it a standard Granada starter motor...if so does any body know the part no.
Cheers in advance...Paul.
Hello S3paulo,
NononononoNO
Don't replace it right away. Startermotors are quite easy to fix. First of all remove the motor completely and try to clean the contacts and try to remove the housing of the solonoid. It's a brass cylinder in a tube. The cylinder is connected to a lever. Clean both cyl. and tube. clean with very fine emery cloth and spray some thin lube-oil on it.
Check whether the lever operates freely too.
If solonoid operates OK (As I understand) then one of the brushes might be sticky. Try tapping with a metal rod (I usualy use the one from my jack) on the startermotor when still on the car. If, after mild or violent tapping, it operates again the brushes are sticking.
Fixing is fiddly because the brushes are springloaded. You might have to use a thin screwdriver to push them back to fit them again (don't know yet how the S motor is constructed but generaly it's all the same) Remove the back of the st.motor
and check that the brushes move freely. If possible clean them and the collectors (shaft) too. If you are able get this far and real problems with the brushes are determined (like extreme wear) order a set of new brushes and replace the. Your motor will be like new at a fraction of the cost of a new/reconned one.
This should, according to me, do the trick.
Hope I've been of any help.
Good luck
Olav Bergman
NononononoNO
Don't replace it right away. Startermotors are quite easy to fix. First of all remove the motor completely and try to clean the contacts and try to remove the housing of the solonoid. It's a brass cylinder in a tube. The cylinder is connected to a lever. Clean both cyl. and tube. clean with very fine emery cloth and spray some thin lube-oil on it.
Check whether the lever operates freely too.
If solonoid operates OK (As I understand) then one of the brushes might be sticky. Try tapping with a metal rod (I usualy use the one from my jack) on the startermotor when still on the car. If, after mild or violent tapping, it operates again the brushes are sticking.
Fixing is fiddly because the brushes are springloaded. You might have to use a thin screwdriver to push them back to fit them again (don't know yet how the S motor is constructed but generaly it's all the same) Remove the back of the st.motor
and check that the brushes move freely. If possible clean them and the collectors (shaft) too. If you are able get this far and real problems with the brushes are determined (like extreme wear) order a set of new brushes and replace the. Your motor will be like new at a fraction of the cost of a new/reconned one.
This should, according to me, do the trick.
Hope I've been of any help.
Good luck
Olav Bergman
Edited by jagman2 on Thursday 17th August 00:21
Edited by jagman2 on Thursday 17th August 00:28
Edited by jagman2 on Thursday 17th August 00:30
This has happened on every Ford engined car I have ever owned, except from the S.
I have never heard of anyone with this trouble on here in 5 years. I had come to believe that the Cologne engine was immune from this, which would point towards worn bushes rather than a sticking solenoid.
However, it is worth a try as to remove the starter is usually 2 - 3 bolts and a couple of wires.
Just clean as Olav suggests.
I have never heard of anyone with this trouble on here in 5 years. I had come to believe that the Cologne engine was immune from this, which would point towards worn bushes rather than a sticking solenoid.
However, it is worth a try as to remove the starter is usually 2 - 3 bolts and a couple of wires.
Just clean as Olav suggests.
Whilst its apart, you will see that the brushes run over a series of copper bars,this is called a commutator,this can be cleaned by gently pressing a piece of very fine (1200s grade or higher) sand paper against it and turning it.If you've had bad connections with your brushes chances are it will have a dark coating on it which should be removed as it will give a high resistance,dust the commutator off afterwards with a brush making sure there is no "rubble" in the groove between the now shiny bars.Many people forget that the brushes are only 1 half of an electrical connection,the commutator is the other half.Good luck with it.
clarenceboddiger said:
Whilst its apart, you will see that the brushes run over a series of copper bars,this is called a commutator,this can be cleaned by gently pressing a piece of very fine (1200s grade or higher) sand paper against it and turning it.If you've had bad connections with your brushes chances are it will have a dark coating on it which should be removed as it will give a high resistance,dust the commutator off afterwards with a brush making sure there is no "rubble" in the groove between the now shiny bars.Many people forget that the brushes are only 1 half of an electrical connection,the commutator is the other half.Good luck with it.
If you are going to do this, make sure you clean out the gaps between each commutator segment, otherwise copper dust from the "emery paper" stage may lead to current flowing between segments and this can slow down or stop the motor. I used to do this by doing one scrape along each gap with an old hacksaw blade. Note the "I used to do" - it's not the recommended method but it's always worked for me!
tvrgit said:
clarenceboddiger said:
Whilst its apart, you will see that the brushes run over a series of copper bars,this is called a commutator,this can be cleaned by gently pressing a piece of very fine (1200s grade or higher) sand paper against it and turning it.If you've had bad connections with your brushes chances are it will have a dark coating on it which should be removed as it will give a high resistance,dust the commutator off afterwards with a brush making sure there is no "rubble" in the groove between the now shiny bars.Many people forget that the brushes are only 1 half of an electrical connection,the commutator is the other half.Good luck with it.
If you are going to do this, make sure you clean out the gaps between each commutator segment, otherwise copper dust from the "emery paper" stage may lead to current flowing between segments and this can slow down or stop the motor. I used to do this by doing one scrape along each gap with an old hacksaw blade. Note the "I used to do" - it's not the recommended method but it's always worked for me!
Wot no small mammals Tvrgit
...Thanks guys...as always, spot on with help...Cheers Paul.It's a bit late - but alternative causes for the problem mentioned in these posts :
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=11&t=198047
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=11&t=197277
In my case - I got through three starter motors in about 18 months. However - since I built the heat shield for it - its been totally reliable.
Cheers,
WG
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=11&t=198047
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=11&t=197277
In my case - I got through three starter motors in about 18 months. However - since I built the heat shield for it - its been totally reliable.
Cheers,
WG
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