Internal and External Earth of Starter Motors

To understand the internal and external earth of the starter, you must understand what the earth is first. The earth is a term of circuit, most commonly seen in the auto repair industry.

The path that current flows through is called circuit. The current starts from the positive pole and pass through the entire circuit, of course, there must be resistance in the circuit or there will be a short circuit. After the current passes through all the electrical appliances and back to the negative pole that’s a formed closed loop.

There are also positive pole and negative pole on the battery of the car. The current flows from the positive pole of the battery and pass all the appliances on the car to the negative pole which formed a closed loop to supply the electricity to all the electrical appliances, so that all the appliances on the car can work properly. And because the body of the car is made of metal which has electrical conductibility so when people design the car they usually use the body of the car as the negative pole to connect with the negative pole of the battery.

The internal earth of the starter means the armature of the starter is directly connected with the housing. Because the housing is installed on the frame of the car, the current directly flows through the frame and back to the negative pole of the battery to form a closed loop. The external earth is the armature of the starter insulates from the housing, it needs a terminal to connect the negative pole of the battery to form a closed loop.

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Common Starting Issues in Trucking Applications---Part 3

Alternator

If your batteries were not at full charge, your alternator capacity may not be up to the needs of your rig. How old is it? A standard brushed alternator is good for 100-150,000km, a long brush alternator up to 300,000km and we have seen brushless alternators last for over a million kilometres. You get what you pay for. Also if you’re hauling more than one trailer or have additional lighting or other load on your electrical system, the standard alternator output may not be sufficient to run your truck and adequately charge your batteries. Providing you have a quality brand alternator, you can trust the claimed output, and your auto electrician should be able to work out your requirements. If your alternator is running at or near capacity just to run your truck, there’s a fair chance it’s not getting the chance to charge your batteries between starts. But remember, before you invest in a high output alternator, check the wiring for size. Most truck manufacturer’s use the narrowest cable they can get away with so there’s a chance your new high output alternator may be wasted on undersized cabling.

Wiring

It is amazing how many electrical problems are caused by simple wiring issues. Undersized cable is often at fault, or it can be poor quality or corroded terminals. Remember any voltage drop over half a volt is a problem. Finding voltage drop is easy and fixing it is often just a matter of increasing your cable size.

Battery Switch

Battery master switches are common in many heavy duty applications and intelligent battery switches and rollover devices are mandatory in fuel haul vehicles. The quality of the battery switches in the Australian market varies wildly, and we have seen switches with well over half a volt of voltage drop across the terminals. Look for a quality battery switch with less than 0.1V voltage drop across the main contacts.




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Common Starting Issues in Trucking Applications---Part 2

Slow Cranking: For the starter to be cranking, the control circuit would have to be working. So, if battery and cable checks are within specification and the vehicle still cranks slowly, then it’s a slow cranking problem and it’s time to replace the starter.

Click No-Crank: Check the control circuit. If the starter does not contain an Integrated Magnetic Switch, or IMS, then a voltage drop test will need to be performed on the vehicle control circuit. If the starter does have an IMS switch function, then the technician will have to verify that the vehicle’s control circuit is providing voltage to the starter IMS.

No-Click No-Crank: When this occurs, power is not being sent to the solenoid, making it very unlikely that the issue is related to the starter motor. A diagnostic tool can help you diagnose the complete starting and charging system, including the alternator, batteries, starter motor and wiring. The diagnostic tool can perform a full system check in about 25 minutes, making it a great investment for your workshop. So in a poor starting environment, or when a starter motor has failed, what could be wrong?


Batteries – By now you should have tested your batteries and replaced any that were faulty. Don’t be tempted by the false-economy of leaving one poor quality battery in a bank of four. And you should look at your battery cabling, as this can often be less than optimum from new. In the diagram below, the top illustration shows the original battery cable layout, which results in the two inner batteries working hard and the outermost two never receiving optimum charge. In the diagram below (Pic 1) shows an easy solution to balance the workload of the battery banks.



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Common Starting Issues in Trucking Applications---Part 1

Cranking problems can be frustrating, identifying and correcting the root cause does not have to be. The first step is to identify the symptoms. In a cranking system, you can divide your symptoms into one of three possible troubleshooting categories:

Slow Crank: The Mitsubishi starter will crank, however, the engine RPM is too slow to start the vehicle.

Click No-Crank: The solenoid clicks but the starter doesn’t crank.

No-Click No-Crank: The solenoid doesn’t click and the starter doesn’t crank.
Once you’ve identified which problem you’re dealing with, then you can start to remedy it. For all issues, the initial troubleshooting is the same: you start with the batteries.

STEP 1 – Begin at the batteries: Charge the batteries and perform a load test on each battery in the battery bank. If any batteries aren’t up to spec they need to be replaced or you will shorten the life of the other batteries and compromise the health of the starting circuit.

STEP 2 – Perform a voltage drop test: Once the batteries pass your tests, perform a voltage drop test on the starter main cables. The starter voltage drop should be less than .5V total on the cranking circuit. This is an important step and is often the cause of a slow cranking complaint. Yet voltage drop also is a leading cause of click or no-click complaints because almost every vehicle manufacturer uses the heavy positive post, located on the starter solenoid, as a place to pick up the current used to supply the control circuit.

STEP 3 – Identify the specific issue: Until now, the diagnostic path has remained the same regardless of the complaint. Now is where you address the specific issue.

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Coaxial (Sliding Gear) Starter Motor

Similar to the axial starter motor, the coaxial starter motor moves the pinion into engagement under reduced power and when it is fully meshed only then full power is applied. The main difference lies in the method of sliding the pinion into mesh with the ring gear. Instead of the whole armature assembly moving axially, in this type a solenoid mounted coaxially with the shaft in a housing moves only the pinion for engagement.

The main details of the circuit of a coaxial starting motor are shown in Fig. 15.30. The main terminal is connected directly to the battery and the terminal marked ‘sol’ is connected to the battery through the drivers starter switch. When this switch is operated, the two-stage solenoid is energized, which moves the pinion into mesh and also closes the first set of contacts, the second set is kept open by trip lever. During this period, a resistor limits the current to the main field, so the armature rotates slowly. Just before reaching the fully meshed position between the pinion and ring gear, a lever trips the second set of contacts. This action by-passes the resistor, and supplies full current to the main field so that the motor produces its maximum torque.


Fig. 15.31. Actions of coaxial starter.
A. At rest position. B. Cranking position.
C. Engaging position. D. Over-speed position.

The actions of one type of Lucas CAV motor are presented in Fig. 15.31. This design uses four steel balls, which lock the pinion sleeve to the shaft to avoid premature rejection of the pinion during spasmodically firing of the engine. When the engine starts and operates on it own, over-speeding of the motor is prevented by the centrifugal action of a set of steel balls placed adjacent to the locking balls. When a pre-set speed is reached, the centrifugal force on the balls moves the locking collar outward and allows the pinion to disengage. A return spring positioned at the flywheel end of the armature shaft helps pinion disengagement and holds the pinion clear of the flywheel during running of the engine.

In Bosch sliding-gear motors the main solenoid is installed at the opposite end of the motor to the pinion. This solenoid holds the pinion in full engagement position until the driver releases the starter switch. Drive from the armature to the pinion is transmitted by a multi-disc clutch. This clutch limits the torque to be transmitted and hence prevents over speeding of the motor by releasing the plates and slipping when the engine is started. Some motors have a shunt field winding, which limits the no-load speed and others use a brake winding that comes into action when the driver releases the starter switch.




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Global Automotive Starter Motor and Alternator Market

Global Automotive Starter Motor and Alternator Market: Overview

The research study analyzes the automotive starter motor and alternator market on global basis and provides estimates in terms of revenue (USD million) from 2015 to 2024. It describes the market dynamics affecting the industry and analyzes their impact through the forecast period. Moreover, it highlights the significant opportunities for market growth in the next eight years.

A starter motor in an automobile is one of the most vital components. It is an electric motor, which ignites the engine to start. It comprise of direct current electric motor and a starter solenoid. The starter motor is powered by the battery of the car and to turn over the engine, it requires very high electric current, which comes from the battery. On the other hand, automotive alternators are components in automobiles, which charges the battery and powers the electrical systems when the engine is running.

Global Automotive Starter Motor and Alternator Market: Regional Outlook

Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America are key markets for the future and are expected to provide huge opportunities to the global automotive Cummins starter motor and alternator manufacturers because of the growth in the automotive sector and increasing demand for passenger vehicles in the regions. Moreover, in the past five years, there has been an increasing production of vehicles globally because of the rising demand and usage of passenger vehicles. This in turn is driving the demand and growth of starter motors and alternators used in the production of automobiles.

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How to Replace a Car's Starter Motor---Part 5

Remove the battery ground. Now you can go below and remove the wires to the Denso starter. There will be a fat wire from the battery or, if your car uses one, an external solenoid. There will also be one smaller wire, either a ring lug on a stud or a spade lug, from the ignition key. Older vehicles with points-and-distributor ignition may have a third wire to the coil, bypassing the ballast resistor. Don't get them confused.

Now get a socket and ratchet and probably an extension, and remove the bolts holding the starter to the block. You may also need to remove a heat shield, brace or sheet-metal cover to get everything loose. Don't drop the starter onto your head as the last bolt comes out; it's as heavy as a bowling ball.

Don't get out from under the car just yet. Mark one tooth on the ring gear with some spray paint or even chalk, and inspect every single one of the 140 to 160 teeth by turning the engine over with a big screwdriver for one full revolution. Seriously damaged teeth will require replacement of the flex plate or flywheel, which commences with removing the transmission from the vehicle. Fear of the necessity of this should motivate you to fix a balky-but-still-barely-working starter before it damages the teeth. Labor to remove the transmission and replace the flex plate or flywheel will be 6 to 8 hours, more if you have four-wheel drive. Add in the cost of parts and a ring gear replacement could easily reach a thousand dollars or more.

Take your old starter motor to the auto parts store and exchange it. Don't be surprised if the new starter bears only a faint resemblance to the older one. The industry has been transitioning to smaller, lighter gear-reduction starters that use a higher-speed motor coupled to a planetary gearset to spin your engine faster while using less current. The new starter will have grease already in places where it's needed, so no further lubrication is necessary or desirable.

Replacement of the new starter is straightforward, at least if your vehicle doesn't require shimming the new starter. Snug up the mounting bolts, reinstall any braces, covers or heat shields, and hook up the wiring. All you need to do now is reconnect the battery ground, take the vehicle off the stands and start 'er up.

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How to Replace a Car's Starter Motor---Part 3

1. Yes, there's a Mitsubishi starter motor hiding up there. On most front-engined vehicles like this Suburban, it's well and truly buried under and behind the engine and next to the transmission.


2. Prepare to get dirty and uncomfortable getting it out. Front-wheel-drive cars with sideways-mounted engines may have the motor mounted above the trans, where you can reach it from above.

3. If you have ramps, they should provide enough clearance. If you need to jack up the car, use jackstands and chock the wheels. Stuck off-road? Dig a trench under the vehicle to crawl into, which is actually not horrible if it's dry.

Is Your Starter Motor Really Bad?
Before you get all greasy under the car, here are some tips for diagnosing a bad starter:

If you twist the key and the dash lights come on dimly, the solenoid buzzes or clicks, or nothing at all happens, it may well be the battery or the cables, not the starter motor. Charge the battery. Your voltmeter should read at least 12.6 volts with no electrical drain on the battery and the charger disconnected for an hour.

2. Check the battery capacity. I use a resistance-type battery load tester. A good, charged-up battery should deliver 150 amps for 15 seconds without dropping below 10.5 volts, and should recover nearly to the aforementioned 12.6 volts within a minute.

3. If the battery checks out okay, look for poor electrical connections to the starter or solenoid, as well as the battery and chassis connections. Accept no more than a 0.5-volt voltage drop between the battery post and the starter hot post. Ditto between the battery negative post and the engine block.

How to Replace a Car's Starter Motor---Part 2

Saturday morning you give your battery and charging system a full investigation. Even swapping in the new battery from your other car doesn't help. Nope—the screeching has become the only symptom you can elicit. That banshee wail is the teeth on the starter motor's bendix gear clashing against the ring-gear teeth because it's not completely engaged.

The solenoid, or on some starters, just a threaded part of the armature, pushes the bendix gear forward an inch or so until it meshes with the ring gear, allowing the starter motor to spin the engine over until it starts. When the engine rpm exceeds the cranking speed, the bendix automatically retracts, preventing the engine from spinning the starter too fast.

At least that's how it works in theory. Starter motor failure is rarely caused by a blown or shorted motor itself—usually it's a problem with the bendix mechanism or the solenoid. And frankly, most people will never need to replace a starter motor for the life of their vehicle. Intrepid but underfunded Saturday Mechanics might actually dismantle a malfunctioning starter and repair it themselves. You can still find auto parts stores that can get you new bearings, brushes and bendix assemblies. Generally, I just exchange the old starter for a new or remanufactured one, because repairing one doesn't save much money. On the other hand, if you have a rare or hard-to-find starter it might be necessary to fix what you have. Usually, auto electric shops （Denso Starter Supplier) can rebuild or repair a starter with a bad armature, shorted field windings, bad brushes, a bad commutator, or even a bad solenoid if there is no alternative. Be prepared to wait a few days or more.