Prestolite Starter Sticking

I've got a problem with my Prestolite starter which I was hoping someone
here might be able to help me out with. The pinion gear that engages the
starter ring gets stuck in the retracted position and won't come forward
when I engage the ignition key. It just whirs in place inside the casing.
I then have to go up front with a screwdriver and turn it by hand a few
teeth so it will come forward and engage. A right pain in the neck, I can
tell you.

Anyone else have this problem? How did you solve it? A phone call to
Prestolite tech support hasn't been much use so far.

Cheers,
Shawn

ShawnD2112 wrote:
I've got a problem with my Prestolite starter which I was hoping someone
here might be able to help me out with. The pinion gear that engages the
starter ring gets stuck in the retracted position and won't come forward
when I engage the ignition key. It just whirs in place inside the casing.
I then have to go up front with a screwdriver and turn it by hand a few
teeth so it will come forward and engage. A right pain in the neck, I can
tell you.

Anyone else have this problem? How did you solve it? A phone call to
Prestolite tech support hasn't been much use so far.


My previous plane, a Beech Sport 150 showed this kind of behaviour.
It was the first sign of a dying battery. The initial acceleration
of the starter was so slow that the Bendix device did not start
from the retracted position.

Try again with a fresh and well-charged battery and check all
the connections in the starter current path.

HTH

--

Tauno Voipio
Piper Turbo Arrow IV, OH-PYM
tauno voipio (at) iki fi

Pull the starter and have the Bendix thoroughly cleaned, inspected, and
re-lubed.
Re install starter and use silicone spray to lube the bendix shaft every 50
hours minimum.
http://www.lycoming.textron.com/main...iveEngine.html

Jim


"ShawnD2112" wrote in message
. uk...
I've got a problem with my Prestolite starter which I was hoping someone
here might be able to help me out with. The pinion gear that engages the
starter ring gets stuck in the retracted position and won't come forward
when I engage the ignition key. It just whirs in place inside the casing.
I then have to go up front with a screwdriver and turn it by hand a few
teeth so it will come forward and engage. A right pain in the neck, I can
tell you.

Anyone else have this problem? How did you solve it? A phone call to
Prestolite tech support hasn't been much use so far.

Cheers,
Shawn

Jim Burns wrote:
: Pull the starter and have the Bendix thoroughly cleaned, inspected, and
: re-lubed.
: Re install starter and use silicone spray to lube the bendix shaft every 50
: hours minimum.
: http://www.lycoming.textron.com/main...iveEngine.html

: Jim

This is a well-known problem. The shaft gets gunked up a bit and keeps the
bendix from coming out.

We had the same thing happening to our Cherokee 180 (sometimes it wouldn't
engage and would just whirr). We took it off figuring it needed some cleaning and
lube and discovered that the mounting flange was cracked. In fact, the crack went
about halfway through the material between the mounting flange and the motor. That
sucker weighs close to 20 lbs and is cantilevered pretty well, so I'm surprised that
cracks aren't more common. It would have been ugly had it broken..... probably would
have dropped a hole through the bottom of the cowling, or at least rattled around
awhile banging into the muffler, air cleaner box, engine mount, carb, oil pan, ...
yeech!

Anyway, something to look at while you've got it off. We put on a SkyTec and
have been very happy with its starting capabilities, and mildly happy with the fact
that it's a permanent-magnet motor. Basically, the gear stays engaged in the flywheel
ring gear for about 1-2 sec *after* the motor starts while the back EMF of the PM
motor decays through the solenoid. Not the greatest design, but it does work, and
saved us 10 lbs on the nose.

-Cory


************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

Definitely should dis-assemble the bendix and inspect it after you pull it.
We had one that had a bent Bendix shaft, but it acted just like it was
gummed up.
Jim

lack of proper lubrication.
Michelle

ShawnD2112 wrote:

I've got a problem with my Prestolite starter which I was hoping someone
here might be able to help me out with. The pinion gear that engages the
starter ring gets stuck in the retracted position and won't come forward
when I engage the ignition key. It just whirs in place inside the casing.
I then have to go up front with a screwdriver and turn it by hand a few
teeth so it will come forward and engage. A right pain in the neck, I can
tell you.

Anyone else have this problem? How did you solve it? A phone call to
Prestolite tech support hasn't been much use so far.

Cheers,
Shawn

As a low-cost first alternative, try a spray-lube on the shaft.

Paul kgyy wrote:
As a low-cost first alternative, try a spray-lube on the shaft.

Prestolite recommends silicone spray on the shaft every 50 hours.
Oils or greases attract dust and dry out and make things really sticky.
Getting the spray onto the shaft is a pain, though, since you can't see
the thing, and the gear needs to be engaged to expose the screw behind
it; it's that screw mechanism that sticks.

Dan

On 26-May-2005, wrote:

Getting the spray onto the shaft is a pain, though, since you can't see
the thing, and the gear needs to be engaged to expose the screw behind
it; it's that screw mechanism that sticks.


On every Lycoming engine I've dealt with if you engage the starter and then
disengage it (i.e. stop cranking) before the engine starts the Bendix drive
will remain extended with the gears of the starter meshed with the engine's
flywheel ring gear. Easy to lube the Bendix shaft in that configuration.
Am I missing something?
--
-Elliott Drucker

In the Prestolites I have, the starter drive is big enough to
occupy most of the room in the casting, making access very difficult. A
small bent plastic tube on the aerosol can will someimes get the stuff
roughly where we need it, but it's mostly guesswork. There's no way to
see the screw threads.

Dan