<VV> Ryan's Starter ...

[Chris & Bill Strickland]

<< There's probably just not enough no load on it to keep the
drive engaged. It's supposed to pull back as soon as the
engine starts, right? >>

wrong -- when it is working properly, the over running clutch disengages (hopefully) when the engine starts to prevent over speeding the starter motor's armature -- it pulls back when the starter is disengaged electically (ie, when you release the key)

emperical method -- try just the starter out on the floor with your jumper cables, when the motor is spinning, the drive should be in the engaged position -- when not spinning, that big spring in the solenoid returns it to the disengaged position