Torque Converter Starter Ring

[maxstu]

Has anyone replaced the starter ring?. Is it possible? If so, how did you manage to weld it true? Any tips please?
Posting on behalf of a mate. His 2.1 auto is making terrible noises from the starter and often doesn't engage. He takes a 30mm spanner to the crank pulley and rotates engine a bit to move starter gear away from worn part of the ring gear. Then it starts. He wants to rectify this before a trip to Spain next year. Apparently the torque converter ring has a habit of stopping in the same place? Can't see how, though.

Regards
Stuart

[silverbullet]

All starter ring gears on flywheels are pre-machined, quite concentric and shrink fit i.e. remove mechanically (flog it off) or drill a axial hole through the gear and split the gear to remove, then the new gear is evenly heated up ( lay it flat on white cement blocks and use a big propane lamp)
Ring gears grow A LOT when heated so don't panic, it doesn't need to be red hot just enough to get the sweat off and boil your spit.
Swiftly pick it up and place it on to the flywheel shoulder and within 30 seconds it will have grabbed it.
Torque converter shouldn't be any different but you'll have to cut the welds with a skinny disc and dress off anything remaining with care.
Or...got to a TC specialist!

[silverbullet]

PS all 4-stroke engines wear their ring gears in patches according to their number of cylinders and where they tend to stop moving due to inertia and friction.

4 pot = 2 wear patches
6-pot = 3
V8 = 4

I have no idea about 5s, they probably stop randomly due to different order harmonics.

[tobydog]

Ring gears grow A LOT when heated so don't panic, it doesn't need to be red hot just enough to get the sweat off and boil your spit.
Swiftly pick it up and place it on to the flywheel shoulder and within 30 seconds it will have grabbed it.

1984,Seiki Spear hot runner manifold bushes (probably means nothing to most reading this) 40-45mm dia going into an interference/shrink fit. Heat the manifold up to 300°C, chill bush in fridge, drops in like a pr%ck in a bucket
 

[maxstu]

PS all 4-stroke engines wear their ring gears in patches according to their number of cylinders and where they tend to stop moving due to inertia and friction.

4 pot = 2 wear patches
6-pot = 3
V8 = 4

I have no idea about 5s, they probably stop randomly due to different order harmonics.

Thanks for both of your replies.
I have contacted two auto transmission firms. One said no. The other did not respond to two emails and one voicemail. So l'll take that as a no, too.

From your observation of wear patterns caused by different numbers of cylinders, in particular a four cylinder engine; perhaps the way forward is to remove starter ring, check overall condition of starter ring and rotate by ninety degrees and refit in the method you suggest?

Welding the ring back on is also a concern. The TC internals do contain some soft valves etc. But l understand keeping tranny oil inside act as a heat sink.

From what l've read on the Samba forum these starter rings are not heated to fit. They are set on a jig, welded and checked or balanced for run out at 3000rpm.

What could possibly go wrong?

[silverbullet]

The samba. Ok...lets start with some actual information not "in theory" pronouncements from across the pond.

I wouldn't recycle a used gear, it has done its work.

Is the ring gear the same part as a wbx or a different size? I don't have access to ETKA or ETOS

[maxstu]

Working on getting that information. I don't have either physically to hand.