12v starter..?!

[tiagosantos]

So a couple weeks ago I was getting the car ready for my first race this season and when I started the car for the first time (same motor, same starter, new transaxle), it would start but make a horrible noise that (maybe only to me..) sounded like a goose being strangled. I checked the bushing and there was a lot of play between the starter shaft and the bushing, but the bushing itself looked the same dimension as a new spare I borrowed, and in pretty good shape. Hmm..

I decided to put it all back together to get me through the weekend, and it actually didn't sound as bad for the rest of the weekend, as long as I just sort of bumped the starter button instead of holding it. At some point, the starter gear seemed to have gotten stuck in the flywheel's ring gear, but I rocked the car back and forth to free it up and didn't have any more trouble after that.

Anyway, something was definitely up, so a couple nights ago I pulled the starter out.. Turns out it's a 12v starter (stamped 12v on both the body and the solenoid). At first I thought someone might already have swapped the bendix for a 6v one (which some people do to save weight/money) but comparing the dimensions of the starter gear, it's definitely a completely stock 12v starter.

Hmm.. What the hell? I thought this was supposed to not work at all! Granted it wasn't working very well last weekend, but I now realize the problem was probably that I was using the wrong bushing in the bellhousing. I used this same starter for the last 2 years with no problems, but I assume my old tranny had the correct bushing installed.

Any thoughts? I buggered up my starter anyway trying to grind away enough material to clear the exhaust, so should I just go out and buy a cheap 12v starter?

[BLS]

Tiago,

The 12v starter will work on the 6v flywheel, but it is not perfect as the number of tetth are different. The 12v can jam even though it might work most of the time. I've read somewhere that one of the FV vendors makes a solenoid for the 12v that works with the 6v flywheel.

If weight doesn't matter, get a 6v starter. It will work fine on 12v and give you more oomph when starting. I ran a 6V starter on a bug converted to 12volts for several years and never had any issue. There are of course, other options, like a new hi torque starter

Regards,
Barry

[tiagosantos]

Thanks Barry - looks like the difference in diameter between the two gears is 4mm (same as the difference between the 12v and 6v flywheels, obviously..) so using a 12v starter with the correct bushing would put the gear 2mm farther than a 6v one.. Hmm.

It worked on my car for 2 seasons with me running it and at least 2 seasons with the previous owner.. I'm just not 100% convinced that there isn't ANY trickery with the drive gear..

[brian]

Run the 12 volt starter very long and you will be buying a new flywheel. Over $100. Just buy the 6 volt unit, put in the right bushing and forget. If you are loosing sleep over weight, buy the reduction unit.

[tiagosantos]

That's what I did.. Worked great! I was surprised to see most people at the track this weekend were running 12v starters. Dunno if it's a "local" thing or if that's just what most people do, but definitely seemed weird after all the warning I've read on other VW websites.

Anyway, when I was searching around for a solution (considering 6v starters were out of stock locally or $250 at the parts store!!!) and before I decided to splurge for the gear reduction starter, I bought a few 6v drive gears. I can easily machine the bushing to fit this on the lighter 12v starters if anyone out there is looking for one. "Dave" here on the forum used to stock them, so you can ask him first, but if he doesn't have them, let me know.