My first post didn't stick
Anyways...
To take the starter apart.
1. Remove from the engine, closely inspecting the drive housing and bolts for distortion. Obviously after disconnecting the electrical.
2. Remove the screw on the end of the electrode of the solenoid going through the copper straps on the starter motor (5/16" hex).
3. Remove the two mounting screws holding the solenoid to the drive housing (5/16" hex) and rotate the solenoid 45* and pull off,careful of the spring on the plunger.
4. Remove the small snap ring on the hinge point of the bellcrank from the housing and slide out the pin.
5. Remove the two bolts at the rear plate of the motor (5/16" hex) and take the rear plate off, then slide the stator off the armature, the brushes will stay in the stator.
6. If it has the arc plate, remove the two screws from the housing and remove the armature from the drive housing (otherwise, not).
7. Slide the armature and bendix out of the drive housing (the arc plate will stay with the armature), and pull away the snap ring cover to reveal the snap ring, expand (gently) the snap ring and remove, then rotate the bendix and fiber washer off of the shaft.
Now you are ready to clean up and inspect the starter for problems, lube up moving parts and reassemle, be sure to closely inspect the bendix and the springs on the brushes (they break when rusty because they are just spring steel).
Also look for an exessively worn bellcrank for the bendix, the poles on the crank should be very round with no major flat spots (this is what determines how far the bendix will go to the flywheel). it can be flipped 180* but I don't recommend it...
Both end bearings should fit fit fairly snug too, always use a dab of lube. Don't forget the fiber washer in the rear.
Pay attention to how many shims (if any) were in the bendix end and the mounting surface, the only time shims will be used for making the bendix line up right is when the drivehousing or the block have been machined (read reman. starter.)
Gear reduction starters are pretty good these days and are really not that much dough, a side benifit is they take less CCA than a conventional starter so sometimes it's the way to go, they make a marine version of those too...
Good luck
GT
