Squealing Starter Motor R33

[WYTSKY]

Hey guys,

About 6 weeks ago my starter motor started doing the 1-2 second squeal that is so common with skylines.

Finally had some time today to get it off the car - after about 45 mins of trying to get to the top bolt of the starter motor and loss of about 500grams of skin I have it off the car.

Now I have been doing some searching and some reading in regards to stop the squeal, some say replace, some say simply cleaning the carbon off the inner side will stop it.

I have no problem replacing, but wanted to have a try cleaning first.

So to clean, what do you use to clean inside it? carby cleaner? degs? wd40 for cleaning and lubing?

How have you guys managed to stop the squeal? I am so sick of people looking at my car like it is a bucket of crap when i start it.

Thanks.

[kidafa]

So when does it squeal, when its trying to start or for a few seconds after it has started? Does it do it EVERY time?

[WYTSKY]

It squeals on startup, as in when its trying to crank the car over.

It does it 95% of the time. the only time it does not do it is if the car has just been driven up to running temp, turned off and then turned on again. ie run up to the shops for a minute. every other time it will.

[t_revz]

behind the gear is a one way bearing within that housing that allows it to turn the engine over but free-wheel other way for when engine is going faster than starter. that could be stuffed if its mking that real horrible squeal/grind noise. however usually when the drive fails it wont turn your car over so if it still turns over it could be something else. take note of where everything goes if you pull it apart and shout out if you get stuck. if its the drive i would imagine it would be around $40-$60.

[WYTSKY]

ok interesting you say that because I already noticed that.

(I posted this yesterday but the damn servers went down and lost the thread)

I have already done a fair bit of wd40ing since i posted this, and yeh i have just been able to turn it one way with my finger, very stiff, the other way doesnt spin freely but it is much easier to push.

I was worried it was that stiff one way.

Tell me this, If these do fail completely can they break anything else ie something falls into the gearbox? or will just the units stuff up and that is all?

if there is the potential for them to damage something more serious im not going to bother with this unit and get someone elses for 50-60 bucks.

[t_revz]

if you can get another for 50-60 then do it. but keep it as a spare. if it fails it wont damage your gearbox. it would fail within.only thing they someties damage is flywheel but there arent any grind marks on your drive. it could also be the bushes within are worn and something is rubbing. im struggling to find bushes for mine to be able to put it back together.

[WYTSKY]

Thanks for the help guys,

I sorted it.

I am going to put a tute up for people for future reference and will post the link here too.

[t_revz]

what did u find?

[Kinks]

mine started squealing after the motor started and i had released the key - i thought it was a loose fan belt at first. gave it to the mech to look at and he said it was the starter, he greased the shaft and it still did it for another week and then the grease must have worked its way in because it's been perfect ever since. The problem was the gear wasn't pulling back smoothly once the car was running.

[WYTSKY]

what did u find?

Well, we tested it outside of the car by hooking it up to a car battery and letting it spin for a few seconds to see if the cleaning and lubricating had fixed the problem and it did. We also tested the solenoid and it was a very fast push and retract so I was pretty sure the problem was fixed.

mine started squealing after the motor started and i had released the key - i thought it was a loose fan belt at first. gave it to the mech to look at and he said it was the starter, he greased the shaft and it still did it for another week and then the grease must have worked its way in because it's been perfect ever since. The problem was the gear wasn't pulling back smoothly once the car was running.

Thats exactly what my mate thought too. That the solenoid was not pulling the shaft back fast enough and the cog was getting spun on the flywheel at a much faster speed then what the bearing can handle and therefore making the squeal until it gets pulled back. The thing with it taking a week is probably because of the grease not getting in fast enough, thats why we used a thin grease to get into the hard to reach places straight away.

Heres the link to the tutorial I made

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Fi...ue-t333872.html

Thanks for all the help guys.

Adam

[t_revz]

the bushes within are actually porous. if you block one end with your finger then fill it with oil and finger on other end and compress it will push straight through and be held within to lubricate.

[t_revz]

by the way just noticed your tutorial. theres 3 bushes within and really you only lubed up one. if your gonna pull it out then its worth undoing the through bolts and 2 phillips screws at the end of the motor and gently tapping the back cover off to lube that bush and inspect brushes. im guessing your is already back in but if not you should do it to get an idea of when it will need TLC again

[WYTSKY]

I did block off that little hole and let it sit upright and drip down

Also did attempt to remove those phillips heads but even with some rust thread loosener and wd40 I was still starting to strip them and gave up on separating the solenoid from the starter.

cheers