I know nothing about starters...

[Rineheitzgabot]

...except for tapping on them with a hammer makes them work, sometimes.

This is exactly where I am with mine. It has a "grinding" kind of sound, now. It will crank for a few seconds, then slow way down, then stop. After cranking it and then stopping, it will not cranking again, unless left for a long period of time (a day), I will tap on it with a hammer, and it will crank again. However, it does not sound healthy, and something certainly needs done.

What sounds like the likely fix for this starter?

Thanks,
Gary

[73series88]

mine acted like that to.
i took it all apart cleaned it up
put a new spring behind the bendix ring.
worked well when i directly hooked it to the battery
but when put it back in place it lost power
i read some post that someone had ran a ground lead from the
battery post to one of the bolts that holds it in.
worked perfectly after that.
aaron

[stomper]

Since I just had my starter rebuilt, I may be able to help you here. It sounds to me like either the battery is worn out, or you are not getting good connection to the starter. (ground, or power) Check the battery terminals, selinoid terminals, and the terminal where the heavy gauge wire attaches to the starter. They should all be clean and snug, to ensure good connection. The starter originally was grounded to the engine, just by the mating surface of the starter being in contact with the engine itself, so make sure the engine is grounded properly, and the contacts are clean in these areas too. As was said above, a ground strap from the botton starter bolt, to the frame, will make this a better option than the way Land Rover originally did it on older vehicles.

I would do a load test on your battery first though, it sounds like this may be the problem.

[Jeff Aronson]

You might also want to check your ground strap that runs from the starter to the frame itself. My II-A also had a "dragging" starter that turned out to have a poor ground at that point.

There's no question that cleaning the stater and exchanging out the worn parts as stated here is critical to having it work properly. I assume you've checked the draw on the battery with a multimeter? I would want to make certain that the battery is delivering enough amperage at start, too.

Good luck,

Jeff

[LaneRover]

Testing your connections is always a good idea. This winter when I was back in Maine my Rover was getting worse and worse at starting. Of course after a few days of dealing with this I find that the battery to the solenoid was extremely loose!

Brent

[Terrys]

Don't rule out a worn bushing on the endplate end. When they wear out, the armiture can rub the field coils.

[Rineheitzgabot]

As always, thank all of you for the insight. I'll keep you posted...

[Rineheitzgabot]

Found a very loose ground wire. Dressed it up and tightened the connection, securely.

The starter does not stop, dead anymore. I think the ground was the culprit on that problem.

Battery fully charged absolutely, however, it still cranks very slow.

Any idea how a person goes about rebuilding a starter?

Thanks very much.

-Gary

[LaneRover]

Found a very loose ground wire. Dressed it up and tightened the connection, securely.

The starter does not stop, dead anymore. I think the ground was the culprit on that problem.

Battery fully charged absolutely, however, it still cranks very slow.

Any idea how a person goes about rebuilding a starter?

Thanks very much.

-Gary

I can usually get mine rebuilt for about $50-$60. Ask around in your area and you should be able to find a place that has a good reputation and does't charge through the nose.

Once I had one rebuilt by a place in Biddeford Me, and it exhibited the exact same symptoms, I took it back and told them and they did it again for free. I think they tested it and it was fine but it was only under a load that the problem came up, they rebuilt it again and it seems fine now (when I keep the connections tight)

Brent

[SafeAirOne]

What sounds like the likely fix for this starter?

[Rineheitzgabot]

Oh yeah, thanks for your help.

To be honest, I was going to take this route, only I have an old Koenig on the front bumper that runs off the crank, so I don't have a dog to hook it to.