Club 80-90 Forums

Hi People,

What are the signs of a worn starter bush? And what is the best/easiest way to remove and replace it?

When I turn the ignition to start I get nothing then after 1-2 seconds I get life, Could this possibly be an igniton fault?

Any help would be brilliant!

No.

Worn bush = starter works straight away but struggles to turn the engine over fast enough.

Yours is more likely, in likely order =

Bad connection on either battery terminal
Bad connection on the heavy "earth" connection to the body (from the -ve of the battery)
Bad connection on the heavy red cable that goes to the solenoid (on top of the starter)
Bad earth from engine to chassis.
Bad connection on the very short cable that connects the solenoid terminal to the starter terminal.
Failing solenoid.
Failing starter motor
Bad connection on the thin red wire ("spade connector") on the solenoid (this is the "trigger" wire that comes from the ignition key)

p.s. = bush stuff here = https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Pe ... sh_removal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and here is more on starters (Aircooled but the same info applies to any flat 4 T25) https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Al ... rter_motor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

E D I T = VERY IMPORTANT = disconnect the battery before going anywhere near the starter & solenoid with anything metal !!

ANOTHER E D I T = never test the starter motor OFF the van, the shaft is only supported at one end, the other end being supported by the above mentioned bush !

Thanks for all the info, I think I know what I'll be doing tonight!

When It does turn over slowly there is a drop of around 0.5v to 0.8v on the battery, What drop should there be to start it normally?

Porkchop...

timely thread....I had the aa out for non-start yesterday

he tested my main starter battery

12.6V standing. (12.8 standing is a VERY good battery, 12.6 shows a good battery)
cranking...12.2V - was told this should be more than acceptable to start it. The testing device reported good battery

Hope this helps.
xx

PorkchopII wrote: When It does turn over slowly there is a drop of around 0.5v to 0.8v on the battery, What drop should there be to start it normally?

As Em says, that is about right.

BUT

You didn't say in your post that it only turned over slowly AS WELL as suffers the delay in coming to life That could be the bush ! (or a failing starter motor now moves up the list of likely causes !!)

Note, if changing starter motors always fit a new bush (that has been stood in oil overnight).

http://www.brickwerks.co.uk/index.php?p ... t&Itemid=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sorry about not mentioning the slow turn over

I replaced the starter motor well over a year ago but didn't know I had to replace the bush also, Since then I have seen many people say ALWAYS CHANGE THE BUSH!

I think the best thing for me would be to remove the starter and replace the bush? Would a worn bush cause a delay in starting?

Many thanks for all the help!

PorkchopII wrote: Would a worn bush cause a delay in starting?

I don't think it would, but a bush replacement is a good thing to do anyway and you never know !

Tricky thing to get at. Read up on it before you attempt it (Links provided above ^^^). Be in a good mood when you start out on it ! If it gets you cross (which it will) then go off and have a cup of tea and come back to it, that always helps ! So does an indicator light bulb soldered to a bit of wire to help you see up there. Bulbs break easily though, bear that in mind ! Disconnect that battery before working on the starter. You can attend to all the electrical connections in that area whilst it is off.

Cheers for all the help, Will have to dig out my tap set and get in there.

I swear these vehicles are here to test our patience!!!!!

It's character building

Hmmph

gotta do this Sunday. Character building. I'll give it character building.

bliddy van

Em
xx

And it's been REALLY nice here during this week (for a change) but now the weekend is here (and we're off camping at the Astel Park Steam Rally) it's gone naff again

Oh well, at least you two won't have to worry about getting sun burnt whilst playing with starter bushes

Hi,

Two weeks ago my van got to the point where the starter would not even turn the engine over, despite fully charged battery. I had changed the starter when I bought the van two years ago and the bush that came with it was still on my bedside table.

In desperation, I decided to try changing the bush. It's almost miraculous! Like a new starter. It flies round now!

I used an easy-out to get the old one out, with the aid of the missus' make up mirror so I could see what I was doing.

As they say, ALWAYS CHANGE THE BUSH!

I can't imagine that little starter bush making such a difference! Didn't get round to changing it over the weekend but after reading your post Jabes it has given me alot of hope!!

I took the T25 for MOT on Saturday (It failed on rust and slightly siezed front wheel ), Drove it to the garage fine and it was stopped and started 4/5 times while there without a problem. Drove it back home which takes 10mins turned it off and left it for 2mins, Go back to start it and it would hardly turn over........

Really hoping the starter bush sorts the problem!!!

Porkchop, it seems unlikely to me that a worn bush would be an intermittent problem ?

Bear in mind that in Jabes case, he/she will have had to re-do all the connections on the starter in the process of doing the bush job

I was thinking about changing the connections on the starter for the live feed at the same time as replacing the bush and if that doesn't make a differnence then replacing the live from battery to the starter aswel as replacing the earth cables on the battery & gearbox incase the is a corroded/damged cable somewhere.

Is there a certain cable thickness to use for the live feed?