Starting E30 race car build! -starter trouble

[crofty1984]

Well, I've done it.
320 2-door, mostly stripped out.
I'm trying to get it running, but at the moment half the wiring's out of the ignition.
The main trouble at the moment is the starter. I'm trying to get the engine to turn over. I can put power to the starter and have the starter spinning away, but it won't engage.
Any ideas?
Also, can anyone help me understand the wires going to the ignition?
Cheers,
Dan

[Funky Town]

wrong flywheel/starter combo?

[Wing Commander]

Can you put the starter in a vice on a work bench, put power to it and check to see if the cog thingy (technical, eh?!) works its way up the shaft against the spring. This allows you to rule out the cog thingy not moving as it should.

Sorry - have had a couple of beers. What little engineering lingo I know has been lost into the bottom of the bottle!

[dan19evans]

Wing Commander said:

Can you put the starter in a vice on a work bench, put power to it and check to see if the cog thingy (technical, eh?!) works its way up the shaft against the spring. This allows you to rule out the cog thingy not moving as it should.

Sorry - have had a couple of beers. What little engineering lingo I know has been lost into the bottom of the bottle!

the motor wouldnt spin without the pinion (cog thingy ) moving out to mesh with the ring gear on the flywheel, because the solenoid (which moves the pinion into mesh with the ring gear) completes the circuit which supplies current to the motor

my guess would be wrong ring gear/flywheel or wrong starter motor?

[AF1]

The ring gear isn't spinning on the flywheel is it? I've seen it happen on large diesel engines, might be worth a check.

[dan19evans]

AF1 said:

The ring gear isn't spinning on the flywheel is it? I've seen it happen on large diesel engines, might be worth a check.

never heard of that before.. sounds quite unlikely though

[AF1]

Had it a happen to a couple of cummins m11 engines, nothing this small though.

[dan19evans]

crofty1984 said:

Also, can anyone help me understand the wires going to the ignition?

what part of the wiring don't you understand? might be able to help you with that

[EDLT]

Teeth broken on the ring gear?

Try rocking the car while in gear to turn the flywheel a bit then see if the starter will engage.

[jhfozzy]

Either as mentioned, wrong starter / flywheel combo or a faulty clutch on the starter (when working it enables it to turn the flywheel one way, but spin freely the other).

When the clutch fails, the starter will engage and spin, but just the shaft will turn and not the "cog".

[dan19evans]

EDLT said:

Teeth broken on the ring gear?

Try rocking the car while in gear to turn the flywheel a bit then see if the starter will engage.

possible, but really unlikely thesedays i think. wasnt that one of the reasons the pre-engaged starter motor was designed?

[crofty1984]

Hi all, thanks for the replies.
Git the thing to turn over the engine by connecting the main supply and "switch" supply directly to the battery.
Next job is to figure out how to bypass the immobiliser.

[dan19evans]

crofty1984 said:

Next job is to figure out how to bypass the immobiliser.

hmmm no idea on that one mate, sorry