Starting Circuit and Starter Drives

The starter’s function is to crank the engine. There are two forces that oppose the cranking.
First, the toughest is the breakaway torque which the starter must overcome to get the engine
running. Then, after the same is achieved, the starter must supply a driving torque. This torque is
greater than the opposing torque until cranking speed is reached and the engine starts. However,
it may be noted that it is not the starter alone that does the job, but the starter circuit as a whole
does there.

Fig.1: Starting Circuit

The starter circuit has four main parts namely battery, starter motor, one or more control switches and the
connecting cables. The battery provides the required electrical power and the starter motor converts this
electrical energy to mechanical energy. When the ignition switch is turned on, the current flows from the
battery through the ignition switch, through the solenoid windings and then through the neutral safety
switch to ground. The safety switch makes the starter circuit inoperative unless the automatic
transmission is in neutral position. Now the control circuit is completed. The relatively small current
flowing through this circuit energises the solenoid which closes its heavy duty starter switch contacts. The
greater current required to turn the starter motor then flows from the battery across the solenoid contacts
and through the starter to the ground. The starter motor with its heavy copper windings consumes a fairly
large current to produce the required torque to start the engine and continue the cranking operation. The
starter, in addition to producing the torque for cranking also supplies it to the engine flywheel. It does this
by means of a drive mechanism. The flywheel has a toothed ring on its periphery. The starter motor
pinion called drive pinion engages with the ring gear on the flywheel to crank the engine. The ratio of the
number of teeth on the flywheel ring gear to that on the starter motor pinion is called gear ratio or
leverage ratio of the starting circuit. The starter motor torque is multiplied by this leverage ratio and the
increased torque called cranking torque is applied to the engine flywheel. The starter drive ratios vary
between15 to 20:1.

Fig.2: Inertia type, outboard type starter motor drive

Starter Drives

It may be noted that the starter drive pinion must be able to engage, while the ring gear on the
engine flywheel is not turning and be able to release from the ring gear when the engine has
started. Over running clutch is the widely used starter drive mechanism. The over running clutch
is an assembly of rollers or balls that act as wedge between a hub and outer race. When the
assembly is turned in one direction, the balls engage the clutch and release when it turns in the
opposite direction. The hub of the over running clutch is splined to the armature shaft. The outer
race carries the drive pinion. Fig.2 shows the schematic of an inertia type, outboard type starter
motor drive. In the inertia type, there is coarse thread on the bore of the drive pinion and
matching thread on a sleeve splined to the armature shaft. When the starter is activated, the
armature rotates, however the pinion due to its inertia tends to stand still. Thus, the pinion is
forced by the coarse thread to travel along the armature shaft till it reaches a stop and must turn
bodily with the shaft. As the pinion is by then in mesh with the flywheel ring gear, the cranking
occurs. In the inertia type drive the clearance between the flywheel ring gear and that of pinion,
when the starter is at rest is very important as this clearance determines the speed at which the
pinion hits the flywheel ring gear. If the clearance is more, there is more time for the armature to
build up speed and the pinion travels faster. Excessive engagement speed can cause the pinion to
spin on the edge of the flywheel ring gear with a milling action or will result in shallow
engagement. With shallow engagement, the load is not distributed over the full length of the
teeth resulting in teeth wear or premature teeth failure. The drives may be classified as inboard or
outboard depending on the direction in which the drive travels in relation to the armature
windings, when the starter is activated. Thus, an outboard drive is one in which the pinion is
mounted near the armature and travels outwards from the windings to mesh with the flywheel
ring gear.