brian k

Thanks again OO. I did try fiddling it a bit but the housing to starter body fit seems pretty good. I've found an exchange replacement at what appears to be a reasonable price and so I've decided to go with that as the toing and froing to get from home to the engine is costly in itself and so I felt I might as well bite the bullet and if this doesnt work then i've at least eliminated the starter and can look elsewhere for the problem.

Thanks O O -- I have been thinking that the second stage of the solenoid is somehow either not moving fully out or being restricted somehow but having stripped it I cant see anything obvious that would be causing that. It appears to operate electrically and i'm wondering if the trigger arm/ trip collar relationship is bent or skewiff in some way that is causing it to trip at the wrong time or point in the cycle phase and that is preventing the balls from fully engaging. Thanks for your help and good ideas - it's all to easy for ones own mind to get channeled down a one way street !

Hello Sir N Unfortunately not as successful as I had hoped. Fitted the starter and still had the same problem as previously. i.e the starter runs out, touches against the ring gear but does not engage fully and then just free runs at speed, clanging against the edge of the ring gear. I have checked the engine through the starter hole and it turns freely with a screwdriver blade as a lever on the gear teeth. This is the original starter and has worked fine in thr past but been stood for almost two years now. I also jumped a helper battery directly onto the Pos and neg terminals of the starter but no difference in the result. Firstly any thoughts and secondly as I feel i have gone as far as I can would you be prepared to look at this as a paid commercial job for me if I shipped the starter to you. ? Many thanks Brian

Sir N - Tested up as per your procedure and all successful. Probably10-14 days before I can get up to actually fit it but I now have every confidence in it. Thank you both so much for your in depth help, not only has it been a pleasant experience posting and communicating on this forum, unlike some others; but through your support I have regained a great deal of confidence in carrying out my own maintenance and repairs. Once again my sincere thanks and I fully agree with Sir Nibbles very pertinent comment at the very beginning of his rebuild thread ---"In fact, it's more likely to put anyone off a DIY job" !! But 10 tooth 12 volt starters appear to be either hens teeth or made of platinum and gold studded with diamonds and so beggars cant be choosers. Keep well and stay safe. Cheers Brian.

Good morning Sir N and Opted Out. Thanks to your kindness I have now got to the situation where the shimming is correct and the locking mechanism is locking out correctly when the solenoid is operated. As per your post Sir N I would like to bench test further if posible please. I assume you can pick up my e.mail from the profile to PM me if you prefer not to display the info. If you cant pick it up then please get back to me. Once again my sincere thanks for your time and knowledge.

Thanks for the info. This starter has obviously been apart before, unsurprising really given its age, so although I kept the shims in the order they came out they may be incorrect and so I will do it from basics tomorrow as per the info from Opted out. I have found however that the commutator end cover has in the past had a few doses of hammer rash which has raised a few bruises on the inside diameter. I am wondering if this may have been stopping the end shield from going fully home and so effectively lengthening the overall length of the casing. Given it a good clean up and rub around with emery and it fits a lot easier now. Thanks once again. cheers Brian.

Hello Sir N, may I pick your brains again please? Am I right in thinking that with the starter assembled but solenoid de-energised, rotating the pinion shaft up the helix by hand it does not enable it to go far enough to reach the locking position ? Does it need the solenoid terminal to be powered up and solenoid engaged in its forward position, and with the four segments magnetically retracted into the solenoid, before it can then be moved out manually enough to allow it to reach the locking position ? I have re-assembled as far as I can see correctly, with all parts accounted for and seemingly correct and undamaged, and the locking mechanism works on the rotor shaft by hand. The engine its going on is 50 miles away so I would like to confirm as much as possible on the bench before trekking of to install it. If my memory serves me correctly we used to test these by running them in a vice with a length of 3x2 timber wedged under the pinion as a load !! produced some nice semi circular patterns in the timber ! Horror of horrors - but in my defence, it was before the days of the H&S at work Act !

Sir N. I have checked the ring and the four segments all appear to be contained within it and free moving. Am I right in assuming that this whole rings and segment assembly is no more than about 1/8 thick? there are two rows of balls 4 in each.

Thank you so much both, your help is greatly appreciated Sir N - the top hat spring and ball bearing are present. and on this one it is a hex screw cap. Opted out - thanks for the manual it has given me a much better insight. I worked on these on a fleet of Bedford TK's many years ago, but the memory is getting a bit poor now. One question both please- in the manual it says to insert the balls from inside the tube. I have inserted from the outside. might this make a difference? Thanks once again Brian.

Firstly hello all and thank you very much indeed Sir Nibbles for your excellent description of the later CAV metric starter "This is an S115 starter, that is the metric version of the old CA45 4.5inch starter." It has helped me no end, however I am experiencing an issue with my C45 as follows. When run up against the flywheel it does not lock up and just disengages and freewheels back down the spline I have stripped the starter and checked the locking mechanism as shown by Sir N on the bare armature shaft, and all appears OK. Once assembled however it doesnt lock up when rotating the pinion by hand . I have a few questions please . In the post of 09 feb 2020. it shows the segmented washers and garter spring. Are these located underneath? i.e at the pinion side of the solenoid assembly or should they be present as another part of the assembly shown on Feb 5th. on my unit, they appear to be in position at the top ( non pinion end) of the four segments in the drive tube. I haven't yet taken the solenoid asembly out as I cant seem to figure out how to. I have moved the resistor out of the way and released the positive terminal screw and the two mounting screws but it still seems solid. It also appears as though the solenoid terminal screw needs to be removed, is this the case please. The solenoid does appear to throw out properly when current is applied to the housing with just the solenoid fitted. Finally is there a supplier of spare parts in the north west / N Wales please. Any help greatly appreciated I have posted this as a separate item but will also add it to the Co ax starter thread. No doubt the adminstrators will confirm where the want it to appear.

Firstly hello all and thank you very much indeed Sir Nibbles for your excellent description of the later CAV metric starter "This is an S115 starter, that is the metric version of the old CA45 4.5inch starter." It has helped me no end, however I am experiencing an issue with my C45 as follows. When run up against the flywheel it does not lock up and just disengages and freewheels back down the spline I have stripped the starter and checked the locking mechanism as shown by Sir N on the bare armature shaft, and all appears OK. Once assembled however it doesnt lock up when rotating the pinion by hand . I have a few questions please . In the post of 09 feb 2020. it shows the segmented washers and garter spring. Are these located underneath? i.e at the pinion side of the solenoid assembly or should they be present as another part of the assembly shown on Feb 5th. on my unit, they appear to be in position at the top ( non pinion end) of the four segments in the drive tube. I haven't yet taken the solenoid asembly out as I cant seem to figure out how to. I have moved the resistor out of the way and released the positive terminal screw and the two mounting screws but it still seems solid. It also appears as though the solenoid terminal screw needs to be removed, is this the case please. The solenoid does appear to throw out properly when current is applied to the housing with just the solenoid fitted. Finally is there a supplier of spare parts in the north west / N Wales please. Any help greatly appreciated I have also posted this as a separate item / new thread . No doubt the adminstrators will confirm where they want it to appear.