1969 Series IIa 2.25 Petrol Starter Motor.

My brother owns a 1969 series IIa lightweight, over the past year or so we've replaced the distributor cap and head gasket + radiator.

Hector(yes we named it) started 'slipping' when we tried starting it about 2months ago, but always started on 2nd or 3rd try without any slipping(grinding / whurring noise)
Now, suddenly, it wont even try and engage. Just spins/ whurrs.

We are both young and relatively dumb regarding mechanics.
I tried...tried....hitting it with a hammer, but its hard to get a good swing
No difference.
We're going to try and take it out and disassemble / clean / reinstall.

Any tips VERY welcome.

We plan to have a a good go at it on Fri / sat / sun.

12/24 volt ????

Have you checked tightness of all the heavy gauge cables from the battery/ies to the solenoid/starter motor ....
Cleaned and tightened earth cables ....

Is the solenoid clicking when you try to start ????

checked electrics to plugs, checked plugs? Easy things to start with........im not sure by what you mean by "slipping" "grinding" etc....... film it starting, post to youtube, put link here, Im sure one of the nice chaps here would be able to ID for you. ;-)

Actually it sounds like either starter bendix is stuck OR it or the flywheel ring is missing some teeth

...
My money would be on a stuck bendix.... Starter motor off and clean bendix with brake cleaner followed by lubricating with powdered graphite IF it's not been mullered by all the churning etc.

If its petrol start it with the handle

Thanks for the fast responses!
I'll make a recording this evening with a torch : )
The missing teeth / bendix thing sounds likely.
If the solenoid was at fault would the starter motor still power-up? (turning / spinning)

WOW i forgot it had the hand-start on the front. just need a handle now^^
Not a long term solution though

Added note: don't kill us...but we do take it mud-plugging occasionally. Went around Billing track this year (not the mud-pool thing though

Thanks again.

Here's the link to the youtube videos.
We didn't want to do it too much, as it sounds damaging :/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFmDBP2FZnA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6hIKXxbBho


The constant vibration noise is the fuel pump, slightly loose, the other noise at the end is my coat zip

Thanks again, Will.B

WillSeries2aLight said:

Added note: don't kill us...but we do take it mud-plugging occasionally. Went around Billing track this year (not the mud-pool thing though

Thanks again.

Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with that, Using it for it was made for Get some pics up!

The more i listen to that sound the more i suspect its the cogs / gears that are worn or broken in the starter motor.

Anything to watch out for when removing the starter motor?

WillSeries2aLight said:

The more i listen to that sound the more i suspect its the cogs / gears that are worn or broken in the starter motor.

Anything to watch out for when removing the starter motor?

Click to expand...

Skinned knuckles ....ohhh and disconnect the battery before you start ;-)

Hehe, Thanks misterriceman.

I'll put a couple of pics on here,
but mostly on a dropbox account.

Thanks

OK, here's the selected photos / videos from our fun times green laning etc.
The Suzuki (horrible thing) is my other brothers, we send him in first

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8mxg20kxsb8p8uz/AADzf2cKd8XpFFM_XOQNtGP_a?dl=0

Sorry the photos are in a random order.

Thanks again everyone, will let you know how we get on.

Here's a few.

Looks tidy that

samc88 said:

Looks tidy that

Click to expand...

Yes very, barely a KG of rust inside, outside or underneath

Hi, slightly off-topic.

Does anyone know the wiring route for the left-hand side of the dashboard?
The Fuel Gauge / Temperature / Windscreen wipers have been hit and miss for a while. They stopped working completely a while back. The Speed / odometer still works, and heaters.

Thanks. Will.B

A long time ago, for some reason or other I acquired a bent starter armature shaft. The damned thing still worked okay for a few months until the same noise you have, appeared. A swift change of starter motor and away she went again. How the armature got bent is anyone's guess but bent it was.... so, I suspect the starter bendix is knackered (the toothed bit on the end).. Whatever the fault, it is starter out I am afraid and have a gander at it, hopefully Ring gear wheel is okay still........ an easy job to replace bendix though...

First of all. I'm sorry for wasting your time everyone!

When I started undoing the bottom bolt i noticed the hole joint around the bolt was cracked!
So, we assume that when we tried turning the Starter on, it just didn't engage properly, hence the grinding noise

Even if that wasn't the original problem, it is now.
(Very sure we didn't break it on removal)

Still, I'm a lot wiser thanks to you guys.

Now we're going to get some new cabling and sort out the windscreen wiper / electrical problem!
We also noticed some other things that need doing on Hector now Love it!

Thanks Again. Will.B

Had to move the fuel pump to get it out Took an hour and a half, but its completely new territory for us.
Here's the pictures. The Bendix looks fine, and brushes of course. Hey, ho.

Got it all up and running now, thanks guys.

Note: might be For Sale soon