bendix engages then spins

[cookerq62]

My bendix engages then just spins. I have been trying to start my ski now that I have spark and now the bendix won't stay hooked up. The battery is fine it was just charged and I also tried jumping it same ********. The conections are good and I tried jumping the solenoid and still the not more then one or 2 revs. It will turn over if the plugs are out but that doesn't do me any good. I tried searching this but I get like 20 pages of results of unrelated stuff.

 

[keefer]

Well there are only a few things that it could be. You should troubleshoot in this order.

1. Verify the battery is good. - Voltage test before and during cranking.

2. Verify the main hot and ground wires are good. - Ohm them out.

3. Determine if the starter is spinning up at full speed and can maintain under the load of cranking the engine. - Worn starter brushes or commutator can cause dragging or unusual behavior. It can be rebuilt

4. Verify that the bendix is staying engaged and is in good shape. - Work it by hand and inspect all parts

5. Check the flywheel teeth and make sure none are worn badly thus causing the bendix to slip at a bad spot.

My vote is that you have a failing starter if #2 is ruled out.

 

[Matt_E]

I've had that happen before. doughnuted bendix.

 

[cookerq62]

The bat checks out and the wires check out. I prob burned up the starter trying to get the thing running.:banghead: Its behaving just like there is a loose hot wire but there isn't. I will check the gears tommorow.

 

[SUPERTUNE]

Make sure you put a new ground cable on first, and would be the cheapest fix if it doesn't need a starter or bendix.

 

[keefer]

Yup, sometimes wires can ohm out under the low current load of the meter but not work when a high current demand is present while starting.

 

[Matt_E]

I personally guarantee that a wire's resistance is almost entirely independed of current flow through it.

Exception: Heating of the wire due to power dissipation (directly proportional to current squared through it) will cause a slightly higher resistance - negligible though.

Now, the contact lugs, on the other hand....

 

[keefer]

I should have explained it better. A heavily corroded wire that only has a few good strands left will sometimes ohm out but like you say when you demand a high current it will heat up and resistance goes up. Instant voltage drop. I experienced this on a blaster that had a failing main ground wire. I ohmed it and it looked good. Try to start and intermittant results, turned out to be the wire near the starter end where I could not see very well until I removed the old wire. Heavy corrosion in the wire with only a few decent looking conductors. Drove me crazy for a while until I figured it out.:banghead:

 

[Matt_E]

Poorly sealed multistrand wire (especially copper) in water environment has a bad habit of that, absolutely!

 

[hydrostyler]

You could check your battery voltage during crank as well. If it doesn't drop much, you could have a bad/weak connection. A large drop would point to the starter. Listen to these guys, the've bailed me out quite a few times. If you do end up needing a new bendix, don't buy one of the gold $70 specials off ebay. get a new or used oem...

 

[norcal ex]

that happened to me today, the flywheel came loose and the bendix couldnt grab it....