fixed by starter

Guys: Last Tuesday, after completing my annual condition inspection, my starter (700 hour Skytec 149-12 pm on an IO-360 , new battery) would not engage. I could hear the starter contactor on the firewall clicking but no starter. Diagnosis was completed as follows, jumped from power in to power out on the starter solenoid, no joy, not solenoid. Jumped from hot solenoid terminal to starter power in, nothing. Next jumped from solenoid hot to starter motor, it spun but did not engage motor, hummmm, not starter cable or connections. Probable culprit, the starter engagement solenoid. Pulled starter, and repeated jump tests, power on solenoid terminal, nata, power on starter power in, it spun right up. Confirmed, the starter engagement solenoid. Called Skytec and got a price for a new or overhauled or new solenoid, nope, no joy. Skytec only sells new units, but would give a core charge credit of $125 on a new $625 unit plus shipping both ways. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I removed the solenoid from the starter. The iron slug that is magnetically pulled down to activate the motor and throw the motor spur gear into the flywheel was very dirty and caked with dried oil or grease or both. I cleaned the slug and the chamber, lightly oiled the moving parts, LPS-2, reassembled, and mounted on the engine. Starter engaged and spun the motor. Success! Probable cause of malfunction was over zealous oiling of starter spur gear with the excess oil running down into the slug chamber and caking. LESSON LEARNED: Lightly oil the spur gear and slide and wipe away excess. We will see how successful this field repair will be over time. Dan from Reno

guccidude1 said:

Guys: Last Tuesday, after completing my annual condition inspection, my starter (700 hour Skytec 149-12 pm on an IO-360 , new battery)

.....

Probable cause of malfunction was over zealous oiling of starter spur gear with the excess oil running down into the slug chamber and caking. LESSON LEARNED: Lightly oil the spur gear and slide and wipe away excess. We will see how successful this field repair will be over time. Dan from Reno

Click to expand...

Is it required to lubricate the gear? Mine is spinning dry for thousands of hours without ill effect.