Date:         Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:11:25 -0400
Reply-To:     Mike S <mikes@FLATSURFACE.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mike S <mikes@FLATSURFACE.COM>
Subject:      Re: Starter Cleanup
Comments: To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <49C41095.1060001@charter.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 05:54 PM 3/20/2009, John Rodgers wrote...
>Now that my transmission is out, and the starter is easily accessible,
>what maintenance might I do to it and associated parts to ensure it
>continues to function trouble free well into the future.

When I had my tranny out for repair, I took the opportunity to take the
starter apart and clean things up. It's pretty obvious how everything
comes apart. There was lost of dust/grime inside, I cleaned it up, and
used synthetic grease on the moving points (but keep it away from the
brushes). I also cleaned up the commutator with sandpaper. Use regular
flint paper (the light colored stuff), not emery cloth, and clean any
grit out well.

As I recall, the only hard part was keeping the brushes pulled back
from the commutator when putting it back together. AIR, there was some
way to lock the brush springs so they could later be released with a
screwdriver.

Make sure you seal it up again to help keep water out - it was sealed
with some kind of sticky sealant. I used Hylomar.