Technical starter

[ddesocio]

Good Morning,
I am having issues with my starter on my 1200. I have had it rebuilt 3 times to date. I install the starter and it works fine until I drive the car for 15-20 minutes and then completely dead. Will not crank or turn at all.
Can it be a heat issue form the exhaust manifold? Stater staying engaged?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[steveras57]

Hi
COULD BE THAT HEAT SOAK FROM THE ENGINE OR EXHAUST is causing the brushs or springs to jam up when hot!- or its possible that you have a loose wire and /or connection in there and heat expansion is moving the contacts apart so it does not work when hot!
If you let it cool right down does it work again!?.

Either way to eliminate the frustration of keep rebuilding it( and not knowing if a component is faulty in there!) id find a used replacement online and swap it out and see what happens then!- they start at around £25 for a used fiat one and £60-£100 for an aftermarket replacement!.
best of luck sorting it.

 

[ddesocio]

Hi
COULD BE THAT HEAT SOAK FROM THE ENGINE OR EXHAUST is causing the brushs or springs to jam up when hot!- or its possible that you have a loose wire and /or connection in there and heat expansion is moving the contacts apart so it does not work when hot!
If you let it cool right down does it work again!?.

Either way to eliminate the frustration of keep rebuilding it( and not knowing if a component is faulty in there!) id find a used replacement online and swap it out and see what happens then!- they start at around £25 for a used fiat one and £60-£100 for an aftermarket replacement!.
best of luck sorting it.

Thank you for the info. Still does not work after it cools down. I was also considering a heat shield between the exhaust and starter. I have looked for a replacement but no luck for a 59' 1200 TV. Any suggestions? I would gladly by an aftermarket if I can locate one.

 

[steveras57]

Hello once again sorry i did not realise you was talking about such an old vehicle so my parts suggestion was based on modern cars!- However the diagnostic still apply!.
It Might be worth trying an E-BAY search in both ITALY & the U S A specifically! or perhaps google vintage fiat dealers in both countrys to see if you can get some leads! sorry cant be any more help than that!
best regards
Steve

 

[124BC1]

Would this starter heat shield suit your car?

https://www.fiatplus.com/STARTER-HEAT-SHIELD-0000869704U.html

Alternatively, there are various heat shield blanket materials available - try a google search for e.g. "starter motor heat shield"

Also, I'd suggest undercutting the mica insulation between the copper bars on the starter motor commutator - this is what we used to do to prevent heat-soak affecting the starter motor operation, in the Fiat main dealership where I worked in the 1970's.
To undercut the mica strips, you can either find a 'shop that has an under-cutting machine or use a very narrow cutting disc on a Dremel type tool - back in the day, we used to manually use a hacksaw blade (narrowed by grinding to match the width of the mica strips), you only need to undercut by about 1/32 inch.
This prevents the mica strips expanding which can then prevent the brushes from making proper contact with the commutator. This used to be common practice on dynamo type generators but was not recommended on starter motors - however it worked for us and solved the problem of starter motor failure due to heat soak.

I don't know why your starter motor/s fail to start working again when they've cooled down - possibly something is melting/distorting due to the heat. Maybe ask the person who rebuilt the starter motors x3, what he found upon strip-down?

Hth.

 

[rogerbeattie]

I would personally be very suspect about the rebuild. I have olenty of these starters in a number of my 1100 and 1200 Fiats from the 50s and they are pretty much bullet proof. The exhaust does not even run particularly close so I find it hard to believe it is causing the problem. Happy to discuss further.

Roger