Starters

STARTER MOTORS

- A starter motor turns electrical energy into mechanical energy.

the starter uses the voltage from the battery to crank the engine and get it started. it does through a dc motor through magnetics springs and currents that engages the stater gear which meshes with the flywheel.

elctrical magnetic rule- like magnetics repel

if you pass a wire through a conductor it creats a current and a magnetic force

first check is the ocv of the battery.

voltage drop between the battery and the starter. then voltage drop on the solinoid

test current draw. 

if the starter is using up more than the max amps then there could be a compretion problem. engine seezing or big voltage drop in the leads

We started to carry out tests on the starter on our own cars but soon found that it wasnt as easy as having it right in front of you and as my battery died half way through we could not finish our testing. but this is what we recorded.

first we had to identify if the engine was a manual or automatic transmission and wether or not it had any power sorces wuth a memory. to disconnect the battery without causing problems to the memorie you would have to connect an external power source to the car.

we then did the visual check to see if all terminals were clean, well connected and had no corossion on them.

then before we start the testing of voltage drop we have to dissconect the igniton fuel injection system so that the engine can be cranked over without fully starting. then mae sure the vehicle is in neutral. 

we then checked the battery voltage under craking. result = 10v - pass

(although this was a pass it was a bear minimal pass and was quite low for the battery to be cranking under pressure)

we then prosseded with our drop tests.

positive side of the circuit - spec = less than 0.2v - result = 0.23v - fail

solenoid - spec = 0.2v - result = 0.03v - pass

earth side of the circuit - spec = 0.2v - result = /

*After our second drop test my car battery died and need a booster pack to be re started. because if this me and my partner did not finish our test. partly because of the dead battery but also because that we all found how hard it is to do these full tests on a starter on a car not to mention taking one of to pull apart.

in todays market if there was a serious problem with the stater its cheaper and more time saving to go out and buy a new one to be fitted. as long as the problem resides with the starter and not a bad/loose connection or battery problem.