Starter motors are essential starting system components to start your baby ride. Without it, your vehicle will not start. It is controlled electronically to start the internal combustion engine. Since the engine cannot make the first rotation cycle, the starter motor spins the flywheel, which spins the engine crankshaft to start the engine.
Once the engine starts, the starter motor lets the engine crankshaft and the flywheel do their thing – to keep the engine running. The following sections will discuss starter motor parts, types, and functions. But first, what is the function of a starter motor, anyway?
What is Starter Motor?
The starter motor is an electronic device that rotates the engine crankshaft when you turn the ignition key. Once the internal combustion engine starts, the starter motor disconnects from the engine and lets the combustion cycle drive the engine. The starter motor is located at the engine and transmission meeting point and connected to the flywheel teeth.
As an electronic device, the starter motor has a direct current (DC) motor and a solenoid. The solenoids receive electric flow from a 12-volt battery to rotate the flywheel. This means you must have a charged battery to power the device. Most times, when you turn the ignition key and the engine cranks without starting, the starter motor or the car battery is the culprit.
The primary function of the starter motor is to rotate the engine until it starts. Aside from this single function, the component is useless. However, this singular function is critical to every internal combustion engine because the car will not start without it.
Like other car system components, the starter motor can fail and give one or more lousy starter motor signs to notify the driver to contact a mechanic to check and rectify the fault.
However, since the system consists of several parts, a malfunction may mean one or more of these parts are bad. We’ll explain starter motor parts and functions to help you figure out when they fail. But before that, let’s see the types of starter motors.
Types of Starter motors
There are different types of starter motors. Let’s see how they work.
Direct drive starter motor
Direct drive is the most common and oldest type of starter motor. It has different construction designs and applications, but a solenoid is a mechanical unit. However, it works like the other types.
The solenoid receives an electric flow when you turn the ignition key or press the power button on cars with keyless features. The electric flow pushes the plunger to shift the lever that moves the pinion gear. In turn, the pinion gear meshes the flywheel teeth. Therefore, as you crank the engine, the starter receives power and spins along with the flywheel, enabling the engine to start.
Planetary gear
This type of starter motor has greatly replaced the direct drive starter motor. This type has a permanent magnet to send electric flow between the armature and pinion shaft. As a result, the armature rotates with more torque and speed.
The planetary gear has a significant amount of gear reduction and reduces the need for high electric current. This type of gear has three stationary plenary gears inside the ring gear and a sun gear at the end of the armature.
Permanent magnet gear reduction
This type has less weight, generates less heat, and has an easy construction design. A permanent magnet gear reduction starter has no field coils, but it has four to six magnet field assemblies and three terminals on the solenoid. The brushes and commutators transmit electric flow to the armature directly since it has no field coils.
Permanent magnet direct drive
The permanent magnet direct drive motor functions like the direct drive starter motor. The only difference is that the field coil in a direct drive is replaced with a permanent magnet.
Off-set gear reduction
The off-set gear reduction spins with high speed under low electric flow. They are primarily seen in four-wheel drive because they enhance cranking torque. They also have light and compact designs, making them easy to assemble.
Inertial starter motors
This type of starter motor is an electric motor with all the functions of the other types. It starts the engine fast and strong. However, the inertial starter motor has a lesser torque capacity with the best cranking speed.
What does the starter Motor look like?
The starter motor is a twin cylindrical motor that rotates the engine crankshaft to start the car. One of the cyl