Re: 359 questions

Posted by HH56 On 2022/11/2 8:35:27

Some have had OK luck and the starters worked for years on 12v until the one time they went to start the car only to get nothing but a strange noise. When removing the starter the unlucky ones found a crack in the casting or in some cases the nose casting broken completely in half and part of it laying next to the flywheel. There are a few photos on site showing surprises found when trying to find out what caused the noise.

12v causes the motor to spin so fast and with such increased torque and force the Bendix moving the pinion gear outward is slammed into the stop at the end of the nose. It can do this for only so long before something gives. If you want to run 12v you might want to check with an auto electric motor shop to investigate the possibility of having the starter converted to run properly at the higher voltage.

At the least you will want to change the regular small solenoid on Bendix only starters. If it is a pinion shift starter you will also want to consider what to do with that solenoid because those will overheat if energized for too long at the higher voltage and it may be hard to find a 12v unit that will fit a particular starter. The coils on those solenoids are wound around a core support the plunger slides in. Even energized at 6v for too long the core support will soften and distort and cause the plunger to stick. I have one of those damaged solenoids in my collection of useless parts.