Weird starter issue

[President Merkin]

This may be obvious but I need to know. If I have an fwd car on axle stands & put it in gear, the wheels shouldn't spin freely right? It should only do that in neutral?

[paintman]

That's the diff working.
Block one of the wheels to stop it.

[President Merkin]

Thanks Paintman. I have a starter motor where the pinion cover cracked in half & wanted to rule out a piece of metal grenading the clutch & flywheel. No weird noises or crunching & I think nothing serious got i the bell housing but something I've never seen before.

[paintman]

Sounds like a job for an inspection camera.

If you haven't got one/can't borrow or rent one then there are cheapies for use with mobile phones although with the current postal strikes it could be anybody's guess when you could get one delivered.

This sort of thing. Not tried one as I have a full size one.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152664465309

[President Merkin]

Thanks again PM. I've confirmed now the cover cracked in two & both pieces came out safely. Worst case now I s a bit of swarf in the bell housing.. I had a moment of panic I think when I expected the wheels to resist me when I put the car in gear.

Edited by President Merkin on Wednesday 14th December 15:47

[Polly Grigora]

Something has gone badly wrong to break the drive end shield like that, the break looks dirty, could have been a bad part from new and it been fractured for a long time

Are there any new marks on the end shield showing signs of something smashing into it?

[paintman]

They're heavy & it may be that someone has previously removed it & dropped it on the ground causing cracking but not breaking it.
Refitted it & over time vibration & the operation of the starter motor has developed the cracks to the point where it fell apart.

[President Merkin]

paintman said:

They're heavy & it may be that someone has previously removed it & dropped it on the ground causing cracking but not breaking it.
Refitted it & over time vibration & the operation of the starter motor has developed the cracks to the point where it fell apart.

I rebuilt this engine two years ago, so I know it's happened spontaneously & that I didn't drop it etc. May well be a casting defect that's developed over time with vibration & repeated use as you say. Either way it's a pain of a job. Very limited access above & below.

[TwinKam]

Early (R53?) Cooper S? ...not nice to work on!

[President Merkin]

R53 is the later car but yep, worst car in the world for working on the back side of the engine. Conversely, working on the front side is peachy once you've hammered the front off.

[President Merkin]

For anyone interested, new starter fitted, all good other than it won't idle when warm now. Looking forward to a morning hunting down a suspected air leak.

[paintman]

Have fun!
Hopefully something obvious.
Leave it until the weather warms up in the next couple of days?

[President Merkin]

Update to the update I found an air leak on one of the intercooler rubber boots, nipped that up tight & the car is back. Happy days! Thanks for the advice PM & others, it's all helpful.