ProcrastinatorFraser
Active Member
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After having ruled out bad earths, dodgy contacts, flat battery, bad solenoid, and all the rest of it, if it is still cranking slowly, if you have any mechanical knowledge at all, i strongly recommend you read this. (when i did this to my dad's starter, i did not take any pics, so bare with me!)
Now, the only things that can seriously go wrong with a starter in terms of electricity are as follows:
Brushes
Solenoid (there is a way to test this on the vehicle. Do this before disassembly.)
Armature
Start by removing the starter from the vehicle, it is much easier to work on outside the vehicle. On the side opposite the solenoid, take off the protection cap thingy.
Once there, you will find a small circlip. This is what holds the armature in place. Remove it.
Make sure you have removed the power tag from the solenoid to the starter casing.
Next, remove the entire back plate.
Behind this plate will be the armature itself, and the brush setup on a plastic board.
Now, you need to do a bit of observation. Look for the following criterias.
Do the brushes look worn down or damaged?
Does the armature look grimy potentially worsening the contact?
Are the brushes firmly seated against the armature?
If there is a problem here, you are going to have to remove the plastic plate along with the brushes and the armature.
1. Do the brushes look worn down or damaged? If yes, you need some new ones. They are available somewhere out there, probably.
2. Does the armature look grimy potentially worsening the contact? If yes, it's just a case of cleaning everything off with some emery paper. Brushes, and mating surface with armature.
3. Are the brushes firmly seated against the armature? This will be WAYY less common imho, but it is most likely that the brush has gotten stuck on the little bracket thingy.
Once the armature has been cleaned, pop it back in to the starter housing along with the black tube-looking bit.
Now, reassembly. It's not THAT difficult, but make sure you don't lose any of the parts.
Let's start by reassembling the plastic bit with the brushes with the armature. Now, it may look tricky, and it was with older starters, but it's much easier with this design. You may notice that the brackets that hold the brush in place are clipped in to the plastic plate. For reassembly, it's very easy. Line up the brush with where the bracket needs to sit, then take the bracket itself, and pop the spring back in it, and line up the spring with the brush.
then push the bracket over the brush all the way until it meets the armature, then just release it slowly, while pushing down slightly until it finds the slot the bracket needs to sit in on the plastic bit. (I don't really have any other way of explaining this, try and keep an open mind
)
Repeat that process 4 times, the last one was the trickiest in my experience.
Once done, try and line up the holes in the plastic with where the bolts should go on the main gear housing.
Line up the wire to the solenoid's rubber grommet in relation to the cutout in the end cap bit (the bit shown in the 2nd image) and pop the plate back on, bolt it up, put the circlip back in place, along with the end cap, wire the starter brush tag to the solenoid, And that should be it! (if i have not forgotten anything, which i most likely have.)
PLEASE NOTE: You may not notice the effects of this operation instantly. I didn't, it was only after a few starts that it dramatically improved performance.
This improved the starter on my dad's car to no end. It was a bleedin miracle.
Please note that the cold start here was done with 2 functioning glowplugs.
Cranking when warm:
Now, the only things that can seriously go wrong with a starter in terms of electricity are as follows:
Brushes
Solenoid (there is a way to test this on the vehicle. Do this before disassembly.)
Armature
Start by removing the starter from the vehicle, it is much easier to work on outside the vehicle. On the side opposite the solenoid, take off the protection cap thingy.
Once there, you will find a small circlip. This is what holds the armature in place. Remove it.
Make sure you have removed the power tag from the solenoid to the starter casing.
Next, remove the entire back plate.
Behind this plate will be the armature itself, and the brush setup on a plastic board.
Now, you need to do a bit of observation. Look for the following criterias.
Do the brushes look worn down or damaged?
Does the armature look grimy potentially worsening the contact?
Are the brushes firmly seated against the armature?
If there is a problem here, you are going to have to remove the plastic plate along with the brushes and the armature.
1. Do the brushes look worn down or damaged? If yes, you need some new ones. They are available somewhere out there, probably.
2. Does the armature look grimy potentially worsening the contact? If yes, it's just a case of cleaning everything off with some emery paper. Brushes, and mating surface with armature.
3. Are the brushes firmly seated against the armature? This will be WAYY less common imho, but it is most likely that the brush has gotten stuck on the little bracket thingy.
Once the armature has been cleaned, pop it back in to the starter housing along with the black tube-looking bit.
Now, reassembly. It's not THAT difficult, but make sure you don't lose any of the parts.
Let's start by reassembling the plastic bit with the brushes with the armature. Now, it may look tricky, and it was with older starters, but it's much easier with this design. You may notice that the brackets that hold the brush in place are clipped in to the plastic plate. For reassembly, it's very easy. Line up the brush with where the bracket needs to sit, then take the bracket itself, and pop the spring back in it, and line up the spring with the brush.
then push the bracket over the brush all the way until it meets the armature, then just release it slowly, while pushing down slightly until it finds the slot the bracket needs to sit in on the plastic bit. (I don't really have any other way of explaining this, try and keep an open mind
)Repeat that process 4 times, the last one was the trickiest in my experience.
Once done, try and line up the holes in the plastic with where the bolts should go on the main gear housing.
Line up the wire to the solenoid's rubber grommet in relation to the cutout in the end cap bit (the bit shown in the 2nd image) and pop the plate back on, bolt it up, put the circlip back in place, along with the end cap, wire the starter brush tag to the solenoid, And that should be it! (if i have not forgotten anything, which i most likely have.)
PLEASE NOTE: You may not notice the effects of this operation instantly. I didn't, it was only after a few starts that it dramatically improved performance.
This improved the starter on my dad's car to no end. It was a bleedin miracle.
Please note that the cold start here was done with 2 functioning glowplugs.
Cranking when warm:
