Hey folks! Hopefully this is a quick one. trying to help my uncle get his 1947 Frazer back on the road. He had this rebuilt starter he had gotten from Don’s in Niles, and we tested it and it sounded great. He was fiddling with it, trying to double check the brushes and managed to have the armature pop off. We pushed the brushes back on, tightened it back up… and nothing. It’s all rebuilt and was JUST working. I’ve been looking at videos and photos all weekend and I can’t figure out what we could have done. When I put it on the battery, it Sparks and thats it. No spin at all. what stupid simple thing could we have done?
What do you mean “ had the armature pop off”? Also excessive spinning of a starter with no load on it is not good for the starter. For a rebuilt starter, the commutator looks a little rough and no undercut, and the brushes look a little short. Bones
Sure looks like the wires to the brushes are up against the case. Are they shorting out now that they have been monkeyed with and that's why you have a spark?
Take it apart, inspect, and set everything right. It is not difficult and then you'll be confident with it. I agree with Boneyard51, a refurb starter will have a nice smooth, shiny commutator. But it's my understanding starter commutators do not get an undercut, it isn't necessary (or even desirable) the way it is required with a generator.
There is no such thing as a brand new rebuilt anything. It is either "new" or "rebuilt". This one isn't new and certainly doesn't look like a fresh rebuild either. It looks like the factory paint on it. I too am puzzled by the armature popping off. The armature is the thing inside that spins. Now.... exactly what popped off?
I agree with some of the comments above. It doesn't look like a quality rebuild from the finish of the commutator and the size of the brushes. Starters are fairly simple but can have some tricky nuances in the ***embly process. You may be better off to eat a hunk of humble pie and return it to the rebuilder or find another rebuilder to set it up right.
I can live with old paint. New brushes though would have nice shiny copper leads. The brush holders look new maybe. There isn't much to pop off on a starter, maybe the end plate. I think what happened, the end plate popped off while being defukulated with. Use a shop manual, and it can't be that complicated can it? Setting up the brushes for re***embly can require three hands, but they are all like that.
I guess I used the wrong term, I meant the whole brush ***embly. As you all know it’s got the springs, so that’s what I meant… he popped it off and all the brushes came loose. So then we snaked it back together. I’m just confused because that’s literally all we did, take it apart and now nothing. It doesn’t even try and spin now. That’s why I feel it’s something simple and dumb.
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