starter grease(rebuilding starter)

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I'm rebuilding a Honda starter (mitsuba)
replacing this

brush_holder_porta_escobilla_WAI_69-85200.jpg



but I have to clean out all the shavings and dust from worn out brushes

so will need to grease up the gears again and whatever rotating parts.

questions is. which parts should be greased and what grease to use
it has reduction gears and grease is contaminated with dust from brushes also
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Just the bushings. I always used whatever grease I had at the time


Don't bushings generally take oil and not grease?
 
Yes ussually oil but grease in this application. Iuse grease so it doesnt migrate everywhere in the starter.

A side note: i just cleaned and lubed the cage fans on my wood stove. Motor need oil in bearings but not alot. Just a drop of oil. You dont want the oil to coat other parts or collect dust.


Harvey
 
Electric motors usually have a reservoir surrounding the bushing. The reservoir is packed with felt so that it can hold a quantity of oil which will replenish the oil in the bushing as it gets used up.

Oilite bushings hold extra oil in its pores so that oil can be replenished.

I suppose grease works in starter bushings because the starter doesn't turn a lot and so the grease does not get used up very quickly.
 
now more important question would be
which parts do I need to grease?
besides the reduction gears
 
I was an auto electrician and rebuilt starters for 7 years. The linked article shows a Bendix drive which uses inertia to engage the drive. Modern starters use a solenoid to engage the drive and the drive has an overrunning clutch using springs and rollers. The drive release on modern systems is spring return when the solenoid plunger is de energized. Bendix drives return by the drive being run at overspeed by the flywheel and centrifugal force releases spring loaded engagement pins or plungers. True Bendix drives stay engaged until the engine starts. If you take the starter off when it has been engaged and the motor didn't start, the drive will be in the engaged position.

Bendix drives haven't been used, that I know of in auto starters for decades. Unless you have worked on antique cars or tractors, chances are you've never seen a true Bendix drive. Many call modern roller overrunning clutch type starter drives Bendix drives. They aren't and it is a misnomer.

I've certainly never seen a true Bendix drive on a Honda or any other Japanese car. They all have what is called a starter drive.
 
I have been a professional mechanic for 45 years and am well aware of the different types of drives so whats your point?

I said..
Quote:
One companies bendix drives would hang and make a harmless racket when releasing the key, this was the fix.

I don't see anywhere where I stated any make or model, I meant a bendix drive.
Fact is this term is commonly used and most people know what it is. Like many products are known by the name of their inventor or first company to manufacture them the bendix name was commonly used for the starter drives just like Kleenex is a common name for tissue paper.
In Germany any angle Grinder is commonly refereed to as a flex, in some places a vacuum cleaner is known as a Hoover and so on.
If you feel the need to educate us on the correct terminology for different starter drives then carry on.
 
I am with ledslinger on this one. "starter drive" is just as easy to use a term as "bendix drive", so why not use the correct term? To me, "bendix drive" has always meant a true bendix drive.
 
Originally Posted By: ledslinger
Bendix drives return by the drive being run at overspeed by the flywheel and centrifugal force releases spring loaded engagement pins or plungers.


I wasn't aware of these pins or plungers. Where are they? The article Trav linked to shows a bendix drive and I don't see pins or plungers there.

The drive gear is driven by the starter shaft through the (spiral) splines, so what would be the purpose of these pins?
 
Originally Posted By: George7941
I am with ledslinger on this one. "starter drive" is just as easy to use a term as "bendix drive", so why not use the correct term? To me, "bendix drive" has always meant a true bendix drive.


I said Bendix drive in my post and I meant a Bendix drive, whats the problem?

Something to read.

www.venselenterprises.com/techtipsfromdick_files/starters.pdf
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: George7941
I am with ledslinger on this one. "starter drive" is just as easy to use a term as "bendix drive", so why not use the correct term? To me, "bendix drive" has always meant a true bendix drive.


Because if you want to get that technical neither one of them is correct in all cases.
We should use Bendix, Folo-Thru Bendix, Dyer drive, Roll Clutch drive, Sprag clutch drive and and god know whatever other type might have been out there since the early teens, every one of them is a type of starter drive. The starter motor itself is also known as a cranking motor if we want to use the "correct" terminology,
Come on man, this is oil forum with guys trying to fix their cars themselves not a friggin automotive engineering forum. There is nothing wrong with using terms that the average guy understands, starter drive or Bendix drive works fine.
 
Originally Posted By: George7941
I wasn't aware of these pins or plungers. Where are they? The article Trav linked to shows a bendix drive and I don't see pins or plungers there.

The drive gear is driven by the starter shaft through the (spiral) splines, so what would be the purpose of these pins?


Never mind. The second article Trav linked to (Vensel Enterprises) explained that the purpose of the pin is to ensure positive engagement, even during false starts, and the pin is eventually disengaged by centrifugal force once the engine has started and picked up enough speed.
 
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