Starter removal

[collegeboi]

haha collegeboi, still new at cars man, dont remember saying i changed a thing but ill be thurr if u need help man

[roycehof]

Hey WWhunter - There is a starter for a manual Festiva right now on E-bay. Looks like it may be just what you need - Probably cheaper and easier than rebuilding what you have.

[neanderpaul]

HOLY COW a festiva starter went bad???!!!! I parted out festivas on ebay for a while. I listed starters many times and couldn't get rid of them even for $10. I have never had a festiva starter go bad. I did sell one for an automatic festiva once. I think to a member here. I have abused them by using them to move cars many many times.

[WWhunter]

I took it to a rebuild shop since NO-ONE here on the island would sell me the parts to fix it. Had to pay them $100 for them to rebuild while I wait. LOL What a friggin ripoff. It ended up being the bendix. Took me another whopping 10 minutes to put in.
Thanks guys.

[Safety Guy]

Are there any manuals or guides to rebuilding starters?

Karl

[FB71]

not any more.

it's a lost art, my friend. Just like relining and radius-grinding brake shoes.

[roycehof]

Rebuilding starters are fairly straight forward - The problem is getting the parts. To assure success of the rebuild it does take some special tooling and test equipment, But most times it is either the bendix, brushes or solenoid. Replacing those items usually cures most (85%) of the problems. The rest of the problems are issues with the windings (overheated starter will usually have this problem) or damaged bearings (actually to be technically correct - bushing) has lost its lubricant and ground itself up. So if you open one up and it doesn't smell burnt and the bearings/bushings are still "wet", the brushes, bendix and solenoid replacement along with lubricating everything will be enough for another 10 or 15 years.

[FB71]

I've gotten shunts and brushes for other electric motors, cut down the brushes to the size I needed. I've also chucked the armature in a drill press and used a flat mill file to cut the commutator, then undercut the mica by hand with a jeweler's file. Hell, I've even hand rewound one or two armatures myself...

As for bushings, I get sintered bronze stock from MSC Direct, drill the correct size hole in it, cut that chunk off, then chuck it in my drillpress with some cone adapters I made (on the drillpress. Are you seeing a trend here?) and ground the outside diameter down to what I needed with a small grinder, then flat mill file.

[roycehof]

Oh Yeah, Have to agree with FB71 - If there is anything else wrong other than brushes, bendix and solenoid, it is beyond most people abiility to fix. That is when you put it all back together and buy a rebuilt unit.
With that being said, I work in a little 2 bay garage in Baltimore while I was in college. We quickly learned that most of the rebuilt stuff was junk. That is when we started to "rebuild" our own parts. It was quicker than waiting for the parts to get delivered, usually only cost a couple of bucks which increased our profit margin (after a good wipe down with Kerosene and some black paint - it was put on the bill as rebuilt). Less returns and more profit for very little effort. We even got into Alternators and Carburators. I don't think anybody does that anymore - Most the mechanics I know today are Part Swappers. Some "tech" looks in a book and tell a mechanic what to swap - If you have ever talked to any 'tech' you quickly learn that they lack practical experience. I had one "tech' tell me that the Cam goes around twice for every time the Crankshaft spins (Which exactly opposite of true life) but he then went on to say that is why the distributor has to go on the cam instead of the crank- WHat??? Do you get 2 sparks per stroke, I asked - He answered that that was correct for only fuel injected cars that need to turn the injectors on and off more often. Carburated cars you don't need that many sparks. This is the guy that is supposed to be telling the mechanics what to do. By the way, he was trained in a Vocational school that specialized in Automotive technology. Good thing he didn't get a job at a Nuclear plant.
Basically, the repair industry is into part swapping now and they just keep swapping until they get lucky and get the correct part - Meantime, the money keeps leaving your wallet and going to theirs. They eat steak, you get hamburger - LOL

[FB71]

what school? Stinkin' (Lincoln) Tech? I teach diesel and auto at CCBC, and take pride in the fact that students are basically 'torture tested'!! I run them thru both exhaustive classroom training, as well as brutal hands-on practicals.

[jglutz]

^^Thank God.....Who ever said school was suppose to be easy....it's curiculums like this that keep industry/economy going...thanks!

[FB71]

you're welcome!! I do my part to ensure our future technicians are, at the very minimum, competent.

[roycehof]

Hey FB71 - I just read this and you are quite the mind reader - The guy said he went to LTI (Lincoln technical Institute - correct???)
Anyway, do you teach at CCBC near Golden Ring? I went there years back when it was Essex.
Sounds like you care about your students. The world could use more teachers like you!

[FB71]

Hey FB71 - I just read this and you are quite the mind reader - The guy said he went to LTI (Lincoln technical Institute - correct???)
Anyway, do you teach at CCBC near Golden Ring? I went there years back when it was Essex.
Sounds like you care about your students. The world could use more teachers like you!

Thanks man, I appreciate that. Essex, Dundalk and Catonsville are now all CCBC. One school, three campuses. The Auto/Diesel program is at the Catonsville campus. I wish it was at Essex, I'd have about a 10 min drive! I also went to 'the University of Middle River' back in the day, '89-'91. Got an AAS in Drafting/Design.

[FB71]

oh, and we used to call it Stinkin' Testicle Institute...

and I used to do the same thing with VV carbs. The Motorcraft remanufactured ones were ok, but were never adjusted correctly. I used to keep several metering rods and re-rebuild the carbs out of the box before they went on the car. It got to the point that I would just build one and keep it in my box, and when a customer needed one, I'd install mine, charge out the reman part and redo that one for the next customer. Saved me time and gave the customer a better carb.