Help with starter issue please

[twert1975]

New series owner. I finally own a series after many years trying to find a good candidate and now I'm pretty sure it was a failed attempt. Rebuilt the entire fuel system and changed to electronic ignition and when I turned it over for the first time after pouring a little gas it the carb it started and idled until it ran out of gas. So I put more gas in it and it tried to turn over and then I heard a loud bang and a noise that sounded like something breaking and a splash of liquid. Not good! Took the starter out and now it looks like one of the teeth on the ring gear is broke off and now when I try to turn the engine with the hand crank it will not turn. Can someone enlighten me on how badly I hurt this thing and what exactly happened.

I appreciate any ideas

1969 series 2a petrol

[lumpydog]

Not a lot to go on here so you're going to have to poke around more and report back. Why did you pull the starter? What happened when you turned the ignition key? Can you post a picture of what you mean by the ring gear tooth being broken?

From your description, sounds like maybe a backfire. Splash of liquid was probably the oil bath air filter, due to a backfire into the carb.

Regarding the hand crank not working. Be methodical. Is the truck in gear? Put the transmission into neutral and also the high/low (red) shifter into neutral. Have someone push the clutch in while you try to hand crank to make sure it's not the gearbox that's locked up.

If it's still not hand crankable, something is interfering with the cylinders or other engine part that is meant to spin. There is a lot to go after at that point... Tell us more to help narrow it down. Pictures.

Welcome to owning a Rover btw. This is normal. Be patient. Ask questions but provide more details. It gets easier.

[twert1975]

Thanks for the response. I took the starter out after the bang because I was afraid to turn it over without looking at it. When I took it out all the ring gear teeth appeared to be fine. While the starter was out I turned the motor by hand to check for compression on each cylinder and they were ok. I put the starter back in and turned it over a couple times and then the starter would just click and not turn. This is when I noticed the motor would no longer turn by hand. Took the starter back out thinking it jammed the flywheel and that is when I noticed the missing tooth on the ring gear. With starter out it still will not turn by hand. Could the broken off tooth be jamming it? Doesn't seem likely but who knows. I will try to take a few pics but not a lot of room in there. I also tried putting it in gear and pushing it back to try to free it up but no luck. It was out of gear and the high low was also in neutral, still will not turn.

[cedryck]

It is entirely possible that something foreign is keeping the engine from turning, the fact that you were able to turn it by hand seems to eliminate an internal problem.
What do you mean by splash of liquid? what type of liquid? and where?

[twert1975]

I honestly have no idea what the noise was but it did sound like liquid splashing so much so that I looked under the rover fully expecting to see something running out of it. Lumydog suggested the oil bath air filler, only problem is I didn't have it in the truck at the time. Is there anyway to get the engine to turn backward to see if it would fee up? Not sure where to go from here.

[lumpydog]

I'm leaning toward the tooth that broke off jamming the fly wheel - based on what you've shared. Try to get a camera (smartphone) up to the mounting/entry point of the starter gear - where it engages the fly wheel and see what's in there. If you see the piece, a magnet on a wire/rod can fish it out (the sell that in hardware stores).

With regard to getting the engine to ease the flywheel off to unjam it. Try leaving it in 4th gear and pushing backwards a little with the transmission brake off. Leave a chalk a few inches behind a rear wheel.

[twert1975]

I believe the broken tooth fell just right to jam the flywheel. Now how do I get it out?

[twert1975]

Update! Turned flywheel backward and grabbed the tooth. Engine now spins freely! Thanks for all the help guys.

[lumpydog]

Nice! You could clearly see the tooth lodged in the right portion of the picture.

Probably a good idea to put a new flywheel on your list. My guess in that once in a blue moon your starter will align to the missing tooth and you will need to let her roll with the clutch off to get to the teeth.

I'm not sure how the starter will behave when it gets to that toothless spot though - anyone else seen this?

[printjunky]

Nice! You could clearly see the tooth lodged in the right portion of the picture.

Probably a good idea to put a new flywheel on your list. My guess in that once in a blue moon your starter will align to the missing tooth and you will need to let her roll with the clutch off to get to the teeth.

I'm not sure how the starter will behave when it gets to that toothless spot though - anyone else seen this?

Until recently starting my frame-up rebuild, I'd been running with about 1.8 consecutive teeth missing from my flywheel for a year and a half or so. As Lumpy says, every few weeks I hit the gap and had to crank or roll in gear to get engagement. And I got a varying degree of clunk every rotation when starting, only a few of which sounded particularly alarming. BUT! It appears that the clunk, over time, affected the starter mounting. I found the starter loose a couple of times, and tightened it, but eventually it got rattled loose and then was torqued hard enough to lose an ear. The Bendix gear was fine. Maybe worn a little oddly, but nothing worrisome. So I'd worry way more about your starter mounting than anything else. If you have to delay the flywheel and will be driving/starting regularly, I'd refasten your starter with nylocks and torque it down pretty good and check it occasionally. I think otherwise, you would be fine, for a while.

PS, last night, there was a flywheel (otherwise NLA) on Ebay for a reasonable price IIRC. And/or get a ring put on your old one (I'd have a shop do it. They snap more easily than you'd think!) and if you do both, you'll have a spare ready to go (Yay?).

[cedryck]

Until recently starting my frame-up rebuild, I'd been running with about 1.8 consecutive teeth missing from my flywheel for a year and a half or so. As Lumpy says, every few weeks I hit the gap and had to crank or roll in gear to get engagement. And I got a varying degree of clunk every rotation when starting, only a few of which sounded particularly alarming. BUT! It appears that the clunk, over time, affected the starter mounting. I found the starter loose a couple of times, and tightened it, but eventually it got rattled loose and then was torqued hard enough to lose an ear. The Bendix gear was fine. Maybe worn a little oddly, but nothing worrisome. So I'd worry way more about your starter mounting than anything else. If you have to delay the flywheel and will be driving/starting regularly, I'd refasten your starter with nylocks and torque it down pretty good and check it occasionally. I think otherwise, you would be fine, for a while.

PS, last night, there was a flywheel (otherwise NLA) on Ebay for a reasonable price IIRC. And/or get a ring put on your old one (I'd have a shop do it. They snap more easily than you'd think!) and if you do both, you'll have a spare ready to go (Yay?).

Right you are, it makes sense to check the mounting bolts periodically , the will come lose over time.