Starter seems to be hanging up ?

[Jm29henry]

i have installed this starter on my car about four years ago last Saturday I went out for a drive she ran started an ran fantastic .Before returning home I decided to fill up with gas,when I started the starter started the car and then made a weird grinding noise I sounded to me like the starter spring did not fully return and was hanging up .When I got home I look at the starter rod was moving freely and it is so I tried to restart it and all seem ok. Was on my way to the dream cruise this evening and the same thing happened the car started but made a grinding sound .i feel the spring is not fully returning is this common can I clean and reluburcate the drive gear or is the spring going bad I do not want to try and start it again until I address the problem what would you do in my situation thanks for the help Joe have a great night

[DaWizard]

Joe, there should be little to NO lubricant on the starter bendix. If it is hanging up, it could be time to change out the spring, or bendix all together. I installed a "modern style" on mine and have had no problems at all.

It might be beneficial to learn the little quirks about starting your engine and learn how to hand crank start it. Mine is such a joy to hand crank start I do it just to prove to everyone how easy it is, even when it is cold!!

But just to be clear, you can clean it and lightly lube it with something like hobby or 3in1 oil.

One other thought, if you remove the starter, either find someone with a magnetic base and dial indicator or buy one, HF has the bases and dial indicators, and check the flywheel for runout and or the starter ring. If the starter ring has come loose or started to, while you have the starter out you can beat it back on and place a few dimples with a punch around the mating surfaces to hold the ring on.

[Jm29henry]

Thanks I will do it today I don't want to mess up the teeth on the fly wheel

[Jm29henry]

She fixed thanks so much Dawizard great help I really appreciate it

[DaWizard]

Great news and thanks for keeping us updated.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Rubbing wheel bearing grease in the flywheel teeth helps some engagement & locking up problems. It sounds DUMB, but it sure helps.
I learned this working on Jaguars, up to '64, they had a very similar starter drive.
Bill Slick