I"ve been cogitating on this. I know a good bendix on a good starter will retract everytime; free air, on the engine, whatever. I know that from having worked on a few including the old style on the starter sitting on my work bench as I type this post. This business about a bendix can’t retract unless the engine fires or the gear is spun real fast cannot be true. A good bendix on a good starter will retract when you get off the power regardless of whether the engine fires or starts or even if the starter is under your foot in the floor.“Rob..... ...thats the trouble, the Bendix is designed to extend into the flywheel ring gear. That is the ONLY direction the starter motor can move the Bendix screw; INTO the flywheel ring gear. Doesn"t matter iff"n its a suck"em into from behind the flywheel, or push"em into from infront the flywheel.
When the engine starts, its rotational velocity is greater than the starter motor rotational velocity, therefore the starter Bendix "UN-SCREWS" from contact with the flywheel ring gear.
Running a starter motor in "free-air" DOES NOT RETRACT the Bendix screw ...EVER... Understand? Remember, no-matter what the battery polarity, the starter motor ALWAYS turns the correct direction to ENGAGE the Bendix screw. And the running engine ALWAYS turns the correct direction to dis-engage the Bendix screw.
And YES, Bendix drives MUST-BE SQUEEKIE CLEAN. I use acetone or spray brake-cleaner. WD-40, kerosene, mineral spirits, Stoddards, MMO, all leave "deposits" and will gunk-up yer Bendix screw..... ....respectfully, Dell”
Link This idea that the only way a bendix can retract is if the engine starts and increases the rotational velocity cannot be true. It cannot be true because the bendix on your tractor does retract even if when the engine doesn’t start or fire. And the bendix rotation is sure not increased by an engine that didn"t start or even fire. It is important to not grease a bendix. As for leaving deposits, well maybe some guys get greasy paint thinner/mineral spirits/Stoddards but we get the good stuff around here and it does not leave a deposit. Now a kicker here is that the old style bendix on that starter out on my bench is certainly oiled. It’s been on my "44 for many years and done a fine job and never failed. Here it is on the bench now and it’s easy to see there is oil up inside the enclosed part of the bendix assembly. I can wipe the oil off the shaft and spin the starter, the gear extends and then retracts and the shaft is oily all over again so it definitely has lube up in there where you can’t get to without disassembly. As for the new bendix style, well those go together dry; no grease for sure. I think the new style is more prone to getting stuck extended but if it’s a good, clean bendix on a good starter then it won’t stick extended. If that had to happen then a bendix would stick extended every time an engine failed to fire and start. So anyway, if your bendix it hanging out there extended you have a problem, that is not right and it is not the way it is suppose to work. Keep looking.
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