DIY starter repair

In detail: do-it-yourself repair of starters from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

A car starter is a sophisticated electrical device that can be used to start the engine by simply turning the ignition key. Any of them is designed for hundreds of thousands of successful launches, and with proper care, it can last a long time, starting a car engine without problems in any conditions. The lack of timely diagnostics and replacement of worn parts can lead to such a situation that far from home or a car service, it will simply fail, delivering a huge number of problems to the car owner.

It is worth noting that although an independent starter repair is possible, its implementation requires experience and a set of elementary tools, which are simply not at hand in a long trip. Accordingly, repairing the starter motor may not be possible, which is almost guaranteed to immobilize the vehicle. But it is far from always impossible to start the engine due to a malfunction of the starter, and before undertaking its "repair", you should pay attention to other components - for example, a flywheel or a storage battery. In addition, it is impossible to repair a starter with your own hands if you do not know how it works.

At the heart of any starter is a powerful short-lived electric motor.

Starter operation when trying to start the car is as follows:

after turning the ignition key, voltage begins to flow to the windings of the electric motor;
the bendix pushes out the gear, which is connected to the flywheel;
after a successful crankshaft spin, the bendix gear is thrown back to its original position, at the same time the electric circuit is opened and the starter stops working.

Video (click to play).

Despite the fact that there are several types of starters, their electrical part is the same, and the only differences are in the mechanisms for automatic decoupling from the flywheel. The friction damper may also differ. In addition to the classic design, the most widespread is a starter with a planetary gearbox - it is installed on diesel and powerful gasoline engines. Such designs have some advantages over classic options:

more compact dimensions;
increased efficiency;
easier start of the motor with a weak battery charge;
this starter requires less starting current, which increases the reliability of starting in cold weather.

Of course, a more complex design makes it much more difficult to repair the device yourself.

A qualitative check of this unit is impossible without dismantling it. It is best to carry out work in a pit, which will provide the ability to move freely under the car. A standard set of wrenches will be required from the tools, and the presence of socket wrenches with a flexible extension will greatly simplify the task. Dismantling is carried out in several stages.

The terminals are removed from the storage battery.
Electrical cables are removed from the pins of the solenoid relay and terminals.
The motor protection is dismantled.
After unscrewing the nuts that secure the starter to the engine block, it can be removed.

Carrying out periodic control of the brushes, you can timely notice a critical decrease in their height, which should not be less than 12 mm. To get to the brushes, unscrew the screw securing the contact wires and squeeze the spring - after that they can be freely removed. After measuring the length, a decision is made to install new ones or return the old ones to their place. As practice shows, if the starter is already dismantled, and new brushes are in stock, it is better to replace them.It should be understood that replacing the starter brushes is an operation that must be performed regularly, especially with frequent engine starts.

This is a more laborious process than removing the brushes. Initially, it is required to remove the washer from the axle and unscrew a pair of tie bolts. After disconnecting the casing of the device, you will have to remove the tubes of insulation of the screed bolts from it. Now you should evaluate the external condition of the collector and the windings. There should be no obvious black marks on them, as well as on the collector itself. If they are still there, then it is advisable to replace the collector, although it can be cleaned with fine-grained emery paper as a temporary measure.

To do this, you will have to get the anchor out of the case. To get to it, you must remove the washer from the axis of the anchor itself, strip the axis of the lever and knock it out - after that it will be possible to remove the anchor along with its drive. The clutch drive lever is removed and the free rotation of the gear is checked by hand: it should be completely free in one direction, and completely blocked in the opposite direction. Chips, and even more so chips should not be detected. If free rotation is difficult or impossible, and there are traces of wear on the teeth, the coupling together with the gear are replaced with new ones - it is unacceptable to operate such a device.

In the process of gradual disassembly of the starter, using an ohmmeter, the windings of the starter itself and the armature are tested for the presence of traces of short circuits. Checking the starter armature is mandatory, since then disassembling it for the sake of this is quite problematic. Reassembling the assembly should be done carefully and slowly. Before that, all surfaces are thoroughly cleaned of dust and dirt, and plastic parts are necessarily lubricated with one of the special lubricants, for example, lithol. All metal parts, which are in excess in the starter, are treated with engine oil. How you can perform high-quality and self-diagnosis is shown in the video:

Since the bendix gear, working in tandem with the flywheel, has a huge load, they are the most common cause of failures when starting the engine. As a rule, the fact that the problem is with the gear is indicated by the periodic refusal of the starter to turn the crankshaft or its rotation too slow, not enough to start. Cracking or frequent clicks are often heard. To make sure that this is exactly the problem, a visual inspection of these nodes will help. If only the teeth on the flywheel are worn out, intermittent starting problems arise when the gear teeth fall into this pit and the starter turns idle.

A fairly common situation is such a moment - the starter clicks, but the crankshaft does not spin, or it occurs at an extremely low speed, clearly insufficient for starting. Before starting a starter repair with your own hands, you should definitely find out the reason for this behavior. There may be several of them:

seized motor shaft or bushing;
short circuit in the windings;
the stator touches the "+" of the rotor.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to visually diagnose any of the above reasons, and the starter will have to be removed. Before checking the starter, it should be thoroughly cleaned of accumulated dust and dirt. If problems are found with the shaft, tighten or replace it. In some cases, you can try to center it. Alignment will also help if the rotor touches the stator. A short circuit is easily identified by burnt contacts and a characteristic smell - if it is possible to replace the starter, it is better to do this, or give the damaged device to professionals.

A little less often, you can encounter such a situation when clicks or crackling in the starter are heard after starting the engine. Among the main reasons for this phenomenon are the following:

discharged battery, as a result of which the holding winding does not receive the proper level of power supply and cannot create a strong magnetic field to fix the armature;
open or short circuit in the holding winding.

To confirm or refute these versions, a starter test with a multimeter is required. If the test is negative, the possible cause may be burnt-out pins. The relay clicks, but there is no contact between the motor and the battery. This problem is characterized by periodicity - contact may occasionally appear.

To protect yourself from major repairs to the starter or its complete replacement, you should be more attentive to an already working device. It rarely happens that it suddenly fails. This is usually preceded by several signs. An attentive and experienced driver knows not only how to check a removed starter, for example, on a battery, but can also accurately determine when a breakdown is approaching in order to promptly and at minimal cost to eliminate an impending problem. For example, timely replacement of the starter bushings will help to avoid the need to replace the starter itself in the future.

Along with timely diagnostics and repairs, you must follow the basic rules for the safe operation of the starter:

it is not allowed to use it to move a car over short distances;
attempts between unsuccessful starts of the motor should alternate with 30-second pauses, and the time of continuous operation of the device should not exceed 10-15 seconds.

Failure to comply with these rules and banal carelessness during the operation of the car can lead to the need for replacement, which will cost a fairly large amount, depending on the installed modification of this device.

An article on car starter repair - signs of device malfunctions, dismantling, assembly, diagnostics. At the end of the article - a video about the basic rules for repairing a starter.

The content of the article:

The main symptoms of starter problems
Removing the starter from under the hood
Diagnostics after dismantling
Assembling the starter and checking its performance
Video about the basic rules for starter repair

At the first sign of damage to the starter, measures should be taken to diagnose it and, if necessary, repair it. This can be done in a car service, and, most often, with your own hands - eliminating a starter breakdown is an operation of medium complexity, which is within the power of an ordinary driver, if we are not talking about a complete disassembly of the device. Most likely, you will need to replace its part and / or sand the component parts with sandpaper.

In order to save money on the services of a car repair shop, you will need an inspection pit, a set of tools and a charged battery. Below we will consider the most common problems of starters, the components of the mechanism and the possible connection of each of them with a breakdown.

An inspection hole is needed to pull the starter out from under the hood, and then diagnose it outside the car. Anyone who does this for the first time will spend a relatively long time, therefore, before starting dismantling, you can try to clean the starter contacts, which could have oxidized during operation, make sure that they are securely fastened, it is also possible to replace the power wires.

If you do not know where the starter motor is located in your car, you can be guided by the sound under the hood that appears when you turn the key - this will require the help of a second person who will sit in the car.

First of all, it is necessary to disconnect the device from the battery - remove the terminals and conductive cables from the solenoid relay. After that, the fastening bolts are unscrewed, as a rule there are 2 or 3 of them - for this you need a hinged extension.

It was already mentioned above that this work requires an inspection pit, since sometimes, to dismantle the starter, it will be necessary to remove the units and mechanisms that are on the way to it, in most cases - the sheathing of the engine compartment protection.

If the problem lies not in the relay, you should also check the stator insulation with an ohmmeter, the damaged winding is restored with an impregnating varnish, but if you have no experience with electrical measuring instruments, it is best to entrust this operation to a specialist. If the starter is geared, then permanent magnets will be present in its design, and if they are damaged, it is extremely difficult to repair them, so it is best to buy a new starter.

The rotor insulation should also be checked if the other parts of the starter are working properly, but for this you need to unscrew the studs holding the two halves of the electric motor and disassemble it completely. If traces of burning and soot are visible on the anchor, it should be replaced. There should not be a strong plaque on the collector - if there is one, you need to clean the part with sandpaper. It is important to inspect all parts for damage and contamination - the coupling should rotate freely in one direction and lock in the other.

It is also advisable to replace the brushes, regardless of whether they are the cause of the device breakdown or not. - it took you some time to extract it, so it makes sense to carry out preventive measures to delay the moment of repeated work under the car. The brushes are attached using terminals and springs that press them from above; to replace them, you need to remove the starter cover from the side of the ignition switch with a screwdriver.

Even if at some of the stages of the check after parsing the starter the problem was identified and eliminated, one should not neglect the time spent on removing and parsing - it is reasonable to take the opportunity to carry out a complete diagnosis and cleaning of all its mechanisms to reduce the likelihood of problems with the device in the future.

Remember that its breakdown on the road will most likely mean a call for a tow truck, so the best time to spend on it is in a garage.

It is very important to remember the sequence with which you disassembled the device - it is advisable to arrange its parts in the same order so as not to get confused during assembly.

After these checks, you can install the starter back on the vehicle. Of course, the mechanism of the mechanism can differ greatly on different models of cars, therefore, before starting the repair, you should familiarize yourself with the technical documentation and, at least, look at the diagram of the starter device in your car.

Do-it-yourself or car service specialists need to carry out preventive maintenance work from time to time even if there are no signs of malfunctions, since this device has a certain margin of service life, usually measured 100-150 thousand km.

Video about the basic rules for repairing a starter:

DIY starter repair - how to do it?

1. Do-it-yourself starter repair begins with dismantling.

2. How to repair the starter if it stops working?

When buying your first car, the car enthusiast must be prepared for the fact that he will face many new challenges and challenges. After all, no matter how perfect the device of your car is, it will still fail someday, since nothing is eternal. And here you need to repair your "iron horse". It's great if there is a car service nearby where real professionals work. But there are also cases of breakdowns in the wilderness, where not even the phone can catch. What to do in this case? Rely on your own skills and techniques for servicing the vehicle, which you should definitely start getting immediately after buying your first car.Having mastered the basic operations and procedures for servicing the vehicle, you will feel much more confident, especially on long journeys.

In addition, the maintenance and repair of a car is quite costly. Therefore, your own skills will also help you save a considerable amount of money. At the very least, you need to deal with the most basic operations. One of these operations is starter repair.

A starter is a structural element of a car, without which it is impossible to start a car. It is this element that starts the engine by spinning the crankshaft. Structurally, an automobile starter consists of the following elements:

1. Solenoid relay - designed to synchronize the entire starter. When the driver turns the ignition key, current is applied to the relay and forms an electromagnetic field. After that, the relay rotates the on lever and clings to the flywheel gear. Then the current flows to the starter windings.

2. Anchor - designed to rotate the bendix gears. When the engine starts, the armature returns to its original position using a return spring and opens the contacts.

3. Bendix (freewheel) - needed to control the speed of rotation of the shaft. The drive shaft must rotate faster than the driven shaft.

4. Brushes and brush holders - are intended to supply voltage to the armature plates. They also increase engine power.

According to experts, if a car enthusiast was able to repair the starter, then any breakdown will be up to him. Why do they say that? It's just that the starter on any car is installed in an extremely inconvenient place in the engine compartment. Therefore, its removal for an ordinary car owner can be equated to the real "feat of Hercules". In most vehicles, the starter motor is located on the driver's side just below the engine. To find it, you need to do the following:

1. Raise the bonnet.

2. Turn the ignition key (you can ask someone to do this).

3. Listen and determine where the buzzing is coming from. It is in that place that the starter is located.

Since the starter is located in a very inconvenient place, in order to remove it, you will need a lot of patience and a set of automotive tools (different wrenches, including those with flexible extension cords). It is best to dismantle the starter in the inspection hole, since without the inspection hole it will be very difficult to move under the vehicle. Steps for dismantling a car starter:

1. Disconnect all battery terminals.

2. Unbolt electrical cables that conduct current from the solenoid pins and from the terminals on the starter.

3. Remove engine cover.

4. Tighten the lower and upper nuts securing the starter to the engine compartment.

5. Remove starter.

Why is it necessary to remove the starter from the car?

The fact is that the diagnostics and repair of the starter is very difficult (and for beginners it is simply impossible) to carry out while it is installed on the car. But when the starter has already been dismantled and lies calmly on the table, nothing will prevent the motorist from performing the necessary operations. When dismantling the starter, we recommend that you remember or write down the order of all work. It's good if you lay out all the parts in the order they were removed. This will help you not to get confused with the reassembly and installation of the starter on the car.

During its operation, the starter becomes very dirty due to its location and the use of graphite brushes. So whether you managed to find a breakdown in the starter or failed, in any case, you need to thoroughly clean the starter itself and all its parts from contamination, and also check the integrity of all components (especially the windings). And only after such manipulations can you start reassembling and reassembling the starter on the car. The starter is installed in the same steps as dismantling, only in the reverse order.

The service life of an automobile engine is much longer than that of a starter. So, whatever one may say, sooner or later the starter will have to be repaired or changed, and you need to be ready for this. But you shouldn't rush to completely change the device. After all, firstly, the reason may not even be in it (but, for example, in the battery or flywheel). And, secondly, it will be much cheaper to repair the starter.

Those motorists who are used to servicing and repairing their car on their own will sooner or later want to know how to repair the starter. In order for the repair of the starter to be as efficient as possible and as efficient as possible, it is first necessary to determine the causes of its breakdown.

The most common starter breakdowns:

1. Breakdown of the starter retractor relay. Because of this, the bendix gear will not feed to mesh with the flywheel splines.

2. The wear of the graphite brushes, with the help of which electricity is transmitted to the armature, as in many electric motors (in fact, the starter is the electric motor). And over time, graphite brushes try and there is a need to replace them.

3. Starter bearings worn. This can be diagnosed by strong vibrations and destruction of the rest of the starter mechanism, although the starter will continue to work.

To check the functionality of the removed starter, a charged battery must be used. The mass is connected to the case, and the positive wire is searched for malfunctions. When the "plus" is connected to the contact of the solenoid relay, it should work and extend the bendix. If the retractor relay does not work, then it will need to be replaced or repaired (malfunction in the retractor relay). In most cases, it will be necessary to replace the solenoid relay, since most of these devices are non-separable.

When the positive wire is connected to the post located after the solenoid relay, the starter should start to operate. If this does not happen, then you will have to completely disassemble the device and repair the starter with your own hands. Or, as an option, take it to a car service (if the newbie still somehow cope with the replacement of the retractor relay, then it is unlikely to overhaul the entire starter).

When the starter is operating, the greatest load falls on the bendix gear teeth, which are in engagement with the flywheel teeth. Therefore, after several years of car operation, these teeth are simply erased and become the reason that the engine cannot be started or it starts irregularly. This problem can be solved only by completely replacing the bendix gears or the flywheel crown.

Remember, very often the reason for the inoperability of the starter is the contamination of the contacts of its constituent parts. So keep a close eye on the cleanliness of both the starter and all other components of your vehicle.

At the first suspicion of a malfunction, do not postpone the repair of the starter on your car, since without this element you can simply stop somewhere in the wilderness and it will be extremely difficult to get out of there on your own.

Noticing the first signs of a malfunction, do not debug starter repairs on the back burner. Tightening with checking and restoring will lead to the fact that at one point the engine simply will not start. We will show in the video and tell you how to check the retractor relay, replace the brushes, starter bushings, in order to fix the breakdowns with our own hands and correctly assemble the car starter.

There are only 2 ways to check starter malfunctions: according to characteristic symptoms and according to the results of troubleshooting after disassembly. The main causes of breakdowns and their symptoms.

Without removing the starter from the car, you can reliably check only a poor contact and the fact of a malfunction of the control circuit of the retractor relay.If the starter does not respond when the key is turned to the Start position, use a screwdriver to bridge the power terminals of the solenoid relay directly. An operation of the starter will indicate a malfunction in the control circuit or the traction relay itself.

If you know how to use a multimeter, in the DC current measurement mode, check if the voltage comes to the control terminal after turning the ignition key to the Start position. If the voltage comes in, but the retractor does not work (there is no characteristic click), the traction relay needs to be repaired or replaced.

Before disassembling, we recommend that you study the device and the principle of operation of the car starter. Also, when repairing, it is important to understand the principle of operation and diagnostic methods of the retractor relay, starter bendix.

Abrasion of brushes that wear out due to tight pressure on the rotating armature. Wear can be assessed visually or with a caliper. It is enough to compare the thickness of the new brushes with the worn out elements.

Wear on collector plates. The brushes wear off much faster than the armature contact plates, but even after a few hundred thousand kilometers they can become unusable. The degree of wear is determined by the depth of the groove that results from friction with the brushes. If the brushes do not fit tightly at the moment of rotation of the armature, a spark discharge may appear, provoking burnout and further exfoliation of parts of the lamellas. Among other defects that arise as a result of beating and axial play of the armature shaft are ovality, displacement of the friction zone of the brushes.

Violation of the insulation of the collector contacts, leading to a breakdown to the mass of the armature body; turn-to-turn closure.

Worn bushings fixing the armature shaft. Critical depletion of bronze or copper-graphite bushings leads to the beating of the armature shaft, as a result of which the copper-graphite brushes fail much faster, and uneven wear of the collector is observed. Also, the wear of the bushings can cause displacement of the armature plates, which leads to turn-to-turn closure.

Worn or incorrect selection of distance washers to prevent axial play of the armature shaft.

Burnout of the contact plate of the solenoid relay. Burnout of the winding, turn-to-turn closure of the solenoid coil.

Worn armature shaft gear.

Removing magnets from the starter housing.

Fracture of the terminal of the positive wire going from the power terminal of the retractor to the brush. Sometimes the terminals, due to their location in a place with an aggressive environment, corrode strongly.

Operations, which in most cases are limited to self-repairing a starter:

replacement of the brush assembly. We have already considered how to replace the starter brushes with our own hands, so we will not dwell on this;
cleaning the working area of the collector with fine-grained emery paper;
lubrication of the planetary gearbox, the armature shaft at the point of movement of the plug of the solenoid relay;
complete cleaning of all parts from wear products of graphite brushes and collectors, dirt.

Many manufacturers do not provide for the repair and maintenance of the solenoid relay, so flare it to disassemble it. This can be done only for the purpose of cleaning with sandpaper or a file of the contact areas of the terminal bolts, plate. If a turn-to-turn short circuit or a breakdown on the case is detected, we recommend that you prefer to replace it with your own hands. We also find the idea of repairing the collector lamellas and rewinding the starter armature very dubious. For widespread starter models, such a repair is simply unprofitable, since it is often easier to find a serviceable used part for disassembly or to buy a new launcher altogether.

Before removing the terminals for repair or replacement of the starter, be sure to remove the terminal from the negative battery terminal.
When checking the starter removed from the vehicle, fix it securely in a vice.
Even to rotate the armature without engaging the flywheel crown, a considerable current is needed, therefore, when checking after repair, do not use thin wires and ensure reliable contact on the power terminals.
You can find the tolerance limits for axial, radial play, and the minimum collector diameter in the technical documentation. Even before starting the repair, we recommend that you find out the model of the starter, which should be indicated in the identification marking on the body.
When assembling, follow the sequence of installing the spacer washers to limit the axial play. In order to assemble the starter correctly after repairs with your own hands, mark and take photos even during the disassembly process.
Only the planetary gear unit needs to be lubricated. For these purposes, CV joint grease is well suited. Never lubricate the working surface of the copper-graphite bushings. The grease will collect dust, thus transforming into an abrasive paste.

The armature shaft play should be checked before disassembly. To do this, just rotate the shaft itself radially and axially with your fingers. With a significant backlash, it is necessary not only to replace the bushings, but also to measure the output on the shaft itself, since in case of critical wear, limiting the repair only by replacing the bushing will not bring much result. You can measure the axial play with a vernier caliper. A dial indicator with a tripod is used to accurately check the radial play.The video shows a simple way to check turn-to-turn ignition. The essence of the diagnosis is to connect one of the contacts of the light bulb to the armature shaft. The second contact should be drawn along the collector lamellas. If there is no breakdown to the case, the lamp will not light up.