[Shotimes] Clarification on: SHO cranking but not starting

[Tom Teixeira]

At 10:00 AM -0500 3/4/04, James F. Ryan III wrote:
>To para-phrase my previous e-mail:
>
>ALL STARTER MOTORS HAVE A SOLENOID INSIDE THE MOTOR.  Your engine couldn't
>start if it wasn't there.

Actually, not true. I have an old flathead powered pickup truck. 
There's no solenoid inside the starter motor, and in stock form, no 
starter relay either. The starter switch was capable of handling high 
current, and is actually mounted on the floorboards, like headlight 
dimmer switches from the 50's, 60's and 70's.

The starter motor engages the flywheel using a "Bendix drive". This 
is a purely mechanical device that moves a gear along a spiral shaft 
when the starter motor starts up, and moves the gear back once the 
engine is running and spinning faster than the starter motor. 
http://www.indiacar.com/index2.asp?pagename=http://www.indiacar.com/infobank/battery1_od.htm 
shows how the Bendix drive works, and also shows starter motors with 
the starter relay on the starter (like Gen 2), and separate (like Gen 
1).
-- 
Tom Teixeira		mailto:tjteixeira@earthlink.net
Blue 94 5-speed 127K	http://world.std.com/~tjt