On Wed, 19 Jul 2006 05:07:29 GMT, ray
> wrote:

>76 Camaro Dirt Track Car... starter is (was) a rebuilt bigblock HD one,
>that's been given a new nose to match the flywheel, and the gear
>(bendix?) swapped for a used one when it jammed in the 307's bent
>flexplate.
>
>Was working fine. We had to pull the engine for oilpan repair (6 quart
>circle track pan + inner tie rod grease fitting = hole.)
>
>The car has three switches - power, ignition, and start. (makes it easy
>to bump the starter without the ignition coming on.)
>
>What started happening was the starter button appeared to jam on - spin
>and spin and spin. Hitting the main power switch didn't kill it either.
> Had to pull the battery cable. We did the "screwdriver" test across
>the terminals with the main power off (only the big power wire is still
>live straight from the battery) and it did the same thing - had to pull
>the battery cable. Double checked all the wiring and the switch - same
>thing.
>
>We pulled the starter, and started dismantling it. Everything looked
>ok, so we double checked the connections and bench tested it - ok...put
>it back in the car, same thing.

There was nothing wrong with the starter -- only the installation.

>the closest thing I could find in the shop manual taked about replacing
>the "clutch" and showed the gear assembly which engages the flywheel as
>being possibly bad, so we swapped it for one in a rebuild kit. That
>appears to have fixed it, but I'm wondering if that was just dumb luck
>or if that could actually have been the problem.
>
> From what I can tell it's like the circuit that pulls the plunger and
>everything "forward" when engaged was staying energized even when you
>disconnected it (we have a quick connect on the firewall for pulling the
>engine) and not disengaging.
>
>The only "good" out of this is that I didn't discover this at the track.
>
>Ray

Your spacing between the starter and the flywheel is way too tight.
This is precisely what happens when you need to add shims.

Some people feel that you should use a Ford-type starter "solenoid"
close to the battery to activate the starter and then hotwire the
starter main feed and solenoid terminals together. This is what I do.
Its a safety advantage in that you don't have that big heavy cable
capable of carrying arc welding level current hot all the time in the
event of a crash. As all dirt track racers know -- crashes are part
of dirt-track racing!

Don
www.donsautomotive.com
Fellow dirt track racer since my 50th birthday in1996.
6 Feature wins first rookie year!
Currently IMCA Stockcar #51