Wayne: This is kind of like a car situation with same symptoms.
One possible scenario: Your primary or ground connections between starter and battery are bad. That explains a slow 'turnover' and when things get worse the 'chattering' as not enough amperage is getting to the Bendix to engage things. Both the symptoms suggest 'not enough amps to the starter' or really 'too big a voltage drop across a high-resistance connection.' Left to its own devices, this can eventually fry a starter, because low amps going through a motor that can't turn is worse than high amps going through a motor that is dissapating as rotational energy all the power that goes in. Actually, this can be a 'wake up call' of sorts. Hard starting is often a symptom of a problem which, left unfixed, will lead to a total electrical failure as a battery lead or connection finally falls off. It's just that under the high amperage load of cranking, things show a symptom earlier. Don't be fooled by 'it looks' okay, either. Corrosion loves to seep in between the copper wire and the connector on the end of it. The cable can look beautiful. Look at the cable end under a magnifying glass. If you see any green or white powder near where the cable goes into the connector, figger that there's a whole load of it where you can't see. Cable manufacturers love to use one kind of metal for the cable and another for the connector. Strewth. If the cables are more than a few years old, or if you live in a damp place, that's very likely. So, before doing anything else, I'd make darn sure that the cables and connections really are solid and firm. Even if you need more radical surgery on the starting system, this step will have to be taken. Okay, suppose all the cables are checked and good. The thing still turns over slowly and/or chatters. Usually that's things related to age. Starter brushes wear out, the commutator gets covered in gunk, and power doesn't get to the motor very well. The engagement mechanism wears, gets out of alignment, maybe loses some of the tooth surface on the gears, etc. That's why starters have to be 'rebuilt' every so often. Yours may be one of those that's just tired. If it's getting enough food (i.e. power) and is still cranky, it's probably time for a rebuilt. Greg [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > My starter has been rather slow turning the engine over ever since I bought > the coupe a year ago. Charging the battery doesn't improve the turn over > speed significantly. But it starts so easy when it turns over that it was > never a problem. Now, it has gotten worse and seems to chatter like the > clutch is slipping or a gear slipping. My service manual refers to Ercoupe > Service Memorandum No. 40 regarding control lever and pinion travel. Can > someone enlighten me about Service Memo # 40. And any advice about starter > problems will be much appreciated. Wayne Hannah N3544H model CD, serial 4169.
<<attachment: winmail.dat>>
