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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Starter Grinding

Went from a rover 3.5 to a rover 4.2L and kept my same weber starter. Trying to get the motor to turn over and the starter just makes a horrible grinding noise. I took it out, connected it to a battery, and the gear popped out away from the starter body and turned as fast as could be. Put it back in the block and I still hear the grinding noise, and the motor isn't turning over.

Suggestions?
Justin

Justin,
The pitch from the 4.2 might not be the same as the 3.5
Ask the guru's from the Rover engines
Werner Van Clapdurp

Same starter, same flywheel, same bellhousing.... I can't see the 4.2L being different from the others. For sure it would have come up somewhere on this board before...
Justin

Justin,

it might just be that your starter has had it's day. It may be a coincidence that it happened when you changed engines?

It sounds like mine did originally, every other try it would do loud rasp - the teeth were worn away.

If the bellhousing and starter ring are the same it should otherwise have been OK.

One other possibiity is that your battery is just starting to lose it - in which case there might not be enough juice to fully engage the teeth, but enough to pop it out and spin it.

Liam
Liam H

Justin-

Are you using a Buick style 215 bell housing and a Chevy T-5 transmission?

If so, pull the spark plugs, put the trans in neutral and try to rotate the engine. Chances are good it will not turn and the problem is not with the starter.

The 4.2 and later Rover engines have a different crank than the earlier 3.5 Rovers, it is 3/8" longer at the rear and will often lock up the motor when the transmission is bolted up.

If this should be the case, I have the required spacer and can offer other solutions.
Jim Stuart

TR8 Bellhousing and LT77 gearbox. I could turn the motor with a wrench while I was tightening the bolt on the front of the crank...

Depth issue still apply?
Justin

Justin when my first starter broke the new one came with shims and I had to shim it away from the flywheel because it was grinding. I bought the starter from Ted in Pandora,Ohio. Denny
DBW

I have the TR8 Bellhousing LT77 trans and 3.9 Rover engine. Denny
DBW

Justin-

Depth issues seem to only address the Buick/T-5 combo, not the TR8/LT77.
Jim Stuart

If is is grinding away powerfully (shudder), not just engaging and dissengagng rapidly, and leaps about violently on the bench, then the starter appears to be good. You must have an alignment problem. Forward or backwards, or radially.
You should be easily able to measure the distance of the fly wheel starter ring gear from the back face of the starter mount with a caliper. If you don't have a caliper then a bit of wire poked tightly though a bit of wood will do. Compare this with the distance the gear popped out away from the starter body. If they are not the same then you have a handle on the problem.
You might try painting the cog (black preferably) and then put back it in to see where the paint chips off. A bit fiddly though.
When I had to exchange my nice new high torque range rover starter (sob) for an SD1 unit, the guy gave me two in exchange. One of those starters had a spacer ring on it, which I did not think much about at the time, just took it off. I didn't measure it or anything, but it was big enough (maybe 5mm or less) to put the enguaged cog in the wrong spot. It may have also been stepped as well (this was a while ago and the spacer is long gone). Check that the diameter of the starter is the same as the mount hole and a tight fit, not loose. Its not going to take much.
Let all of us know the end result, I'm considering putting in the larger motor much as you have done. I'm starting to clock up quite a few kms on my secondhand 3.9.


Peter

The gear on the starter is hitting the face of the flywheel. I smeared white lithium grease on the end of the starter and only activated the solenoid then looked to see where grease was left on the flywheel and sure enough its hitting the face. Judging from the marks on the grease on the starter, the teeth (on the starter) are only a few mm too short, so I'm considering using a file to make the teeth go a little deeper in towards the center of the gear on the starter.

The starter body is an extremely tight fit onto the block, and I can't help but wonder if the block was bored out 1-2 mm off where the starter passes through.

Thoughts?
Justin

I used a 3.5 1988 Range Rover as the starting point for my Rover V8. When I bought the gear reduction starter, I was asked if I had an actual late model Range Rover engine or if it was a Buick or early Rover engine. I was told that the late model Rover engine use a different starter than do the early ones. I never really researched this, but you might be facing this same issue.

Maybe one of the Rover experts can tell us more on this issue.

Richard
Richard Morris

I just checked and the 1988 3.5L Range Rover and the 1993 4.2L Rover both use the same starter, so that's not the cause.

The only variable here is the block itself.
Justin

I knew the 88 3.5 and the 4.2 used the same starter(the 88 is what I have).

What year was the 3.5 engine you took this stuff off of (that was my question)? If you also have a 1988 3.5 then right, that's not the problem.

But, what you have done is leaving few possibilities other than you having an early Rover engine.

Why don't you call D&D and ask them about it? If anyone knows these engines, it's them.

Please post whatever you find out. I am thinking of building a bigger Rover and this is one problem I don't want.
Richard Morris

I know the engine came out of a 1988 Range Rover. When I bought it I had to remove the Hotwire fuel injection and the flex plates off the back and all sorts of good stuff.

Early rover motors didn't have Hotwire fuel injection.

Justin

This thread was discussed between 29/06/2007 and 06/07/2007

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