Starter trivia

Badvert65

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2013
Messages
616
Reaction score
577
Location
Brightwood, Virginia
[h=2]Starter info[/h]
I brought this up in another thread, the fact that there are 3:1 and 2:1 gear reduction Mopar starters. Starters prior to 1974 (give or take) were typically of the 3:1 gear reduction type. With the introduction of electronic ignition, Mopar engineers discovered that the distributor needed to spin faster at startup to make starting easier. And this brought about the use of the 2:1 gear reduction starter. Working in autoparts has shown me that a lot of rebuilders do not really separate the two types and it is usually a crap shoot when getting a remanufactured starter. Most cases it doesn't realy matter and nobody really minds. But for those of you that do care, here are some pics.
There is not really a way to tell from the outside. Mopar made different 'strength' starters for heavy duty and other applications. These will look slightly different on the outside (HD ones are typically longer). What you would need to do to ID the gear ratio is to snap the cover off the gearset (bendix) and visually inspect.
Basically the 2:1 gearset (on left) is smaller than the 3:1 gearset (on right).
attachment.php

The 3:1 Bendix gear is approximately 2" in dia.
attachment.php

The 2:1 bendix gear is approximatley 1.75" in dia.
attachment.php

This is just one of those little known things about Mopars that you either didn't know or (still) don't really care about.​
 
Yes! Thanks for the information! I just traded in my 66 starter for a 76 starter,
My car has the electronic ignition Mopar conversion already.
I may have upgraded without knowing it...
:D
 
Back
Top