<VV> Starter keeps cranking

[Doug Mackintosh]

Another update on my starter that wouldn’t stop cranking. Today I retested the problem starter removed from the car yesterday. I again connected jumper cables to the starter terminal and mounting ear, then energized the “S” terminal on the starter solenoid. Unlike my previous tests on the starter out of the car, this time it duplicated the problem while out of the car. When the ”S” terminal was energized the starter would spin, but when deenergized it continued spinning (2 out of 3 times) and would not stop until the jumper cable was removed from the mounting ear. If the cable was reinstalled on the mounting ear it did not resume cranking.
Then I took a look at my notes and photos from August 2019, when I replaced a broken starter snout with one scrounged from an old non-working starter. It looks like the 20A “Brake washer” (Fig 8-39 1961 Manual) was badly deteriorated and thin, which allowed the armature to be displaced toward the brush end of the starter. It also appears that when I did the final testing per Fig 8-50 there was no clearance between the pinion and retainer, but there was about 0.14” clearance between the retainer and the inside surface of the end of the starter snout. Also, it looks like the thrust collar had separated from the retainer by the time the assembly and testing was complete. I was back on the road in early September 2019, and daily driving with no starter problems until May 2021.
Still trying to figure out the exact mechanism preventing the solenoid from dropping out when the “S” terminal is deenergized.

-- Doug Mackintosh Corsa member since 1996 Corsa/NC member since 1996, Virtual Vairs member Corvair owner 1969-1971 and 1996-on