Ratchet style starter drive retract

WABOOM

WABOOM

Senior Member
I got a new starter drive unit for my Mercury with the Merc-o-matic and I twisted it out not knowing it that I wasn't supposed to do that. Do you guys know a way to retract it? I saw a video using a wire wheel on a bench grinder to spin it up and rewind it, but I don't have a wire wheel for mine. Can I spin it with the starter out side of the car and force a retract?
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the speed of the running engine is what retracts the drive so I assume with no load on the starter it should retract by jumping it with a battery, my guess! either it will or won't!
 
you can take it apart and reset the 3 spring loaded little dowels back into the slot of the
worm not easy but doable with extra set of hands. Lesson learned, don't fool with this
style ....
 
big job:
Lesson learned, don't fool with this style ....

QUESTION: What style do you recommend? The starter for the Merco-Matic is different than for the manual trans. Not interchangeable.
 
WABOOM: Try your idea outside the car and see what happens. I don't think it will hurt the starter. Fordor41 also has a good idea.

Here's a helpful thread.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/starter-for-8ba-flathead-with-merc-o-matic.622529/

and
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48011

If possible, PM folks with Mercomatic starter like yours, get their phone number and call them to discuss how they have installed this starter.

IDEA: Clamp the starter in a BIG vise using the case as clamping point.
Put on a leather glove and simultaneously twist and push in the starter drive (CW or CCW) to see if you can manually retract it.
 
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19Fordy said:
big job:
Lesson learned, don't fool with this style ....

QUESTION: What style do you recommend? The starter for the Merco-Matic is different than for the manual trans. Not interchangeable.
Click to expand...

That is correct. You are kinda stuck with that style if memory serves me its
called a "flow thru" something like that back when. Before buying another
nothing to loose - take it apart in a cardboard box so nothing flys away like
springs do. Remove large snap ring on the barrel remove the barrel now you
will see something like a star this is where those little springs and dowels
go into. On the inside of this so called starr is where a spring then a dowel
goes I think there are three springs & dowels. Somehow you gotta hold all
dowels in while turning the whole assy. on the worm shaft. What happened
is that it was turned 'wrong way' past the worm shaft and all the dowels popped out. Not complicated it works by centrifugal force. when engine starts remember ring gear is large and the bendex is small so that bendex is
really whipping thus sucking those dowels "in" back in their little holes. Same
principal as a governor. Hope I explained this understandable. then reassemble good to go....sam
 
big job, Thank you for that excellent explanation. I am sure WABOOM can solve the problem as this can't be the first time this has ever happened.

Wish I had a starter like that to play with. Would be an interesting challenge. Kind of like assembling a mechanical part where you have to hold all the little balls in place with thick grease or a home made strap like a wire tie or radiator hose.
 
WABOOM, if it were mine and before I took it apart, I'd try the battery hook up trick. Failing that, I'd get a wire wheel for the grinder.....and you probably need one anyway!!!

I have a VERY bad record of success with taking things like this apart and then getting them back together without having a very frustrating afternoon!!:eek:
 
I tested installed the new drive unit onto the starter shaft and spun it up to full speed with jumper cables. I tried several times to nudge the starter gear into retract mode with a lever while spinnin, but I could not get it to retract.
 
big job said:
That is correct. You are kinda stuck with that style if memory serves me its
called a "flow thru" something like that back when. Before buying another
nothing to loose - take it apart in a cardboard box so nothing flys away like
springs do. Remove large snap ring on the barrel remove the barrel now you
will see something like a star this is where those little springs and dowels
go into. On the inside of this so called starr is where a spring then a dowel
goes I think there are three springs & dowels. Somehow you gotta hold all
dowels in while turning the whole assy. on the worm shaft. What happened
is that it was turned 'wrong way' past the worm shaft and all the dowels popped out. Not complicated it works by centrifugal force. when engine starts remember ring gear is large and the bendex is small so that bendex is
really whipping thus sucking those dowels "in" back in their little holes. Same
principal as a governor. Hope I explained this understandable. then reassemble good to go....sam
Click to expand...


I believe the term was "Follow Through". They were designed to avoid disengaging whenever the engine would fire once or twice but not catch and stay running. It used to be common to hear a Ford starter turn the engine briefly, then buzz up without turning the engine. So you had to release the starter button and wait for the starter to stop turning, then push the button again-sometimes repeatedly! This new style drive shown here was a vast improvement! If the engine just fired once or twice, the ratchet allowed the drive to over run, but stay engaged until the engine fired and revved fast enough to release those pins and thus disengage.
 
WABOOM said:
I tested installed the new drive unit onto the starter shaft and spun it up to full speed with jumper cables. I tried several times to nudge the starter gear into retract mode with a lever while spinnin, but I could not get it to retract.
Click to expand...
I have never tried it but have you tried to install the starter with the gear in the engaged position?
If it will mount and can be bolted in place (with the gear teeth engaged),
as soon as the engine starts, centrifugal force will be sufficient enough to allow normal operation.
 
I'm gonna spin it with a 12 volt battery tonight and see if I can bump it back in with more rpms.
 
I don't think spinning the starter will retract it as that's what engages it. You
need to spin the drive like the engine would when it starts.
 
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Is there a pictorial drawing of that starter available that will show how it mechanically fits together?
 
WABOOM said:
I'm gonna spin it with a 12 volt battery tonight and see if I can bump it back in with more rpms.
Click to expand...
Just a thought, should using a 12 volt battery not spin it fasi enough, using another 12 volt battery, hook it up for 24 volts to make it spin faster.
 
When the starter drive engages flywheel and spins, does the inertia and much faster rotation of the flywheel, upon starting, cause the starter gear to withdraw it's contact with the flywheel after the engine starts?
 
As I see it... the teeth of the ratchets twist the gear head up the helix, and then ratchets keep the gear engaged until the engine starts. Then the flywheel spins it so fast the drive unit unlocks and rewind down the helix.
 
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