rebuilding a starter

[truoss]

Has anyone ever rebuilt a starter? The starter on my big red just went out today....I knew it was week, and now it has finally stopped working. I took it apart and one of the two squares(i don't know what they're called) that brush against the shaft is very worn. Is there a kit I can buy? Or is it possible to fix it without a kit? Any info would be appreciated....I need to get it working again. Thanks,
Tristan

[jeswinehart]

i got my brushs from ace hardware,,, 2 of them anyway.
the other two i had to get from honda dealer. my real problem was soldering those small wires,,,, really tuff for me. in the long run i ended up taking to a starter/alternator rebuilder.
oh yeah by the way,,, the ace brushs was for a hand drill i think. i had to bench grind them down to size but they worked ( just my soldering job wasn't up to snuff)

john

[muskegnmud]

do not go to Honda for stuff like that, go to either a automotive starter rebuilder or if you want to do it yourself go to an electric motor repair shop/supplier and the brushes should be availalble there for a fraction of the cost

[Rando Talbot]

yes, go to a Starter/Alternator place. They should be able to set you up with a set of brushes. Also, put the armature in a lathe or drill press or even a drill and make sure you sand the commutator nice and clean. This will help make good contact and strengthen your starter again. Also look to make sure there is no burrs, shavings between the grooves in the commutator. This will cause a short and weaken your starter.

[wolfspider]

if the brushes aren`t too worn you can clean the copper stator to get it working again, the copper can become dull just shine it up with wire wool. :-D

[muskegnmud]

I agrre with Rando, the commutator should be put in a lathe and skimmed and the copper bits between the bars should be cleaned out, one of the biggest enemies of brushes is an out of round commutator....the brushes will jump and cause arching and sparking....black and burnt commutator and burnt brushes...after some running the commutator SHOULD be a dark chocolate brown...this is normal and displays good commutation. do not polish or brighten up the commutator for no reason...doing it by hand with paper will help the commutator to go out of round and start the whole brush burning problem...my 2 cents.

[Tri-Z dude]

im lucky
my uncle owns his own altanater/starter rebuilding shop
he does mine for free
ben