I just got my flywheel back from the engineering shop to have it balanced with the crank. Is there a way to inspect the starter ring? within a week I've been through 2 starter motors (the starter pinion is slipping off the flywheel starter gear) Any ideas anyone?

I had a race to goto today and its so bad that the starter wont even turn the engine over,just a grinding sound.

Engine is a (kent) crossflow, ford.

Should be able to see any ring ware, it may be a ring gear startermoter gear mismatch

Yeah I thought as much but I didnt see any wear.

Aren't all ford starter rings the same on the crossflow engines?

Have you got a fundamental problem, such as the wrong number of teeth on the pinion. I think they are generally 9 or 10 teeth?


Mal

I don't think so,I have always used the same starter motor,but this week I've been through 2 starter pinions! Yes the starter I used has 10 teeth, my concern is perhaps the starter ring.
I thought ford used the same size of starter rings on all the crossflow starter rings. Am I wrong here?

The starter ring gear used with an inertia starter is different to the one used with a pre engaged starter. The inertia ring gear will have a chamfer on the clutch side of the flywheel and will probably be worn , should have 110 teeth. The pre engaged should have 132? teeth . The pre engaged starter was fitted to later crossflows because of the problems with inertia starter pinions.HTH

Maybe they broke your starter ring on the flywheel and replaced it with the wrong one?

Dear all,back from the garage ....thanks for the help but I solved the problem.So here's what happened so you can all learn from mistakes &^%$#@!!!
In between the engine and gearbox there is a metal plate about 1mm thick. Which I thought "excess weight so remove it"
well the starter motor spigot centers in that plate.I had an old starter in the garage which I used and it worked fine! The New starter I had fitted without the plate,hence it did not center correctly with the flywheel.So after a couple of starts it stripped the teeth!
I missed the last hillclimb of the season dammit! been up since 5am searching the net and forums for a reply,had I got to work right away I might have been able to make it.
To make matters worse a mate of mine called at the venue to see where I was and I could hear the event in the background.
I was going to go drive to vent my frustration but instead I'm going to use my Helicopter instead (cheaper to break).

Thanks again all.

Hey Guys one more thing,does anyone know what the difference between the 9tooth and the 10 tooth starter pinion is? Does it have the same diameter and modulus? Can I use a 9 tooth or a 10 tooth with no problems on the same starter ring?

You have the metal shim plate fitted between the engine and gear box, this is vital on the xflo (even more so if you have the old style 2 bolt starter)