[TKRacing]

Hi everyone new to the forum. I was at the track the other weekend and my engine locked up on me. When I got back home and started to tear it down the head and came are good turns over with a wrench really well. So pulled the starter out and the starter was locked up and exploded internally. Got a new starter and fired right up and sounds great. Wondering if anyone has heard of the starter clutch going bad and engaging at 10k+ rpms and spinning the starter and stopping the engine like that. Any help would be great.

 

[Scorpi0]

Hmm thats crazy. I never thought the clutch on the starter could even physically engage at high engine RPMs.

 

[TKRacing]

I didn't think so either but something cuase it to lock up and destroyed the starter just want to make sure its fixed and don't happen again.

 

[RJ2112]

Another one that I will wait to hear from Lloyd (Riverszzr) on; I know the starters don't use a bendix spring like a car does, not familiar with how they engage or disengage.

Seems like bad design if it can stay engaged and when it seizes, that seizes the crank....... you'd think there should have been a back torque limiting device of some type to prevent that.

 

[riverszzr]

The starter is direct drive to a gear

on the flywheel there is a starter gear that only rotates one direction so that the starter is not spinning continuously while the engine is running
it is a one way clutch assembly with a series of 3 rollers with springs and check balls attached to the flywheel and then these in turn drive the gear which goes to another gear which goes to the starter.......


But to answer the OP's question on seeing a starter explode internally and lock up an engine.... NO- generally I see the brushes go bad or the armerature wear out or both, which just makes spinning it hard or slow or both
Althoguh I have seen several of them get gernaded when the #2 rod lets go and comes through the cases and turns them into shrapnel.... those magnetic pieces stick to everything magnetic in their path, ugh....