<VV> starter woes

[Jim McLott]

Doug,
 
There's an overrunning clutch on the starter solenoid that will cause this problem when it goes bad.  Christine had the same problem.  If I had to crank the engine for more than about ten seconds, the starter would continue to spin but it was no longer engaged.  If I waited a few seconds and tried again, the starter would again engage, but only for a few seconds.  I would have to repeat this procedure until the engine finally started.  My solution was to replace the entire starter with a rebuilt one and this cured the problem.  I still have the old starter and one of theses days when I've run out of things to do on Christine (don't laugh, it could happen), I'm going to take the old starter apart and see if I can fix it.  I'm told it's a relatively easy repair.   Someday I hope to find out if that's true.
 
 Jim McLott & Christine, the 1966 Monza convertible she-devil
Member: CORSA, Corvair Atlanta and Group Red (Ret.)
 
http://www.wittelaw.com/personal/groupred/mclott.htm
 

________________________________

From: Douglas Barneck [mailto:dougbee at comcast.net]
Sent: Wed 12/7/2005 2:13 PM
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Subject: <VV> starter woes



Two of my cars have the same starter symptom.  While starting to crank, if the engine starts quickly, there are no problems.  If the starter has to crank for more than 10 seconds or so, the starter drive will engage and then it sounds like it starts to freewheel and not turn the engine.  I can hear the starter still turning.  I replaced one of the starters with a spare that I had and worked normally for a while but now it apparently does the same thing.  Any ideas on the cause?  I think it is odd that two of my three daily drivers do the same thing.

Thanks 
Doug Barneck