Need Help Finding A Starter

This is just like the old coffee shop, which was like the old coffee shop down the street. Pull up a chair, sit down and enjoy some good discussions. Please, no political, religious or racial posts.
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BearKiller
Posts: 180
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 12:27 am
First and Last Name: George Riley
Location: Poverty Springs KY 2018 Wettest State in the Nation

Need Help Finding A Starter

Post by BearKiller »

Tractor is a 1971 or 72 Mitsubishi R2500; I think I own the last surviving one on the planet; 2-cylinder diesel SDT130 liquid-cooled 76ci, 25-PTO-HP

There is a plate on the starter that is stamped Mitsubishi J-4

The mounting flange has two bolt holes straight across from one another.

It has a "shrouded" nose.
11-Teeth.

According to Wikipedia, the engine on these tractors was used in numerous applications for about a twenty year span.

I will try to get some useful measurements in a few days.

Would all J-4 starters be the same ?

Due to the loader frame, I really don't have room to mount a pony-motor; and, a starter-cart would be somewhat unhandy; but, I may resort to one or the other if I don't find a starter soon.

A solenoid would maybe get me out of the woods as I can probably rebrush the starter.

Thanks for reading.

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dag1450
Posts: 2356
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 3:16 pm
First and Last Name: Dave Gibson
Location: Chalfont, Pa

Re: Need Help Finding A Starter

Post by dag1450 »

Pony motor.....starter cart..?? Idk but sounds like lots of work! Find yourself a nice shop that rebuilds starters and such. They r out there. I have a shop by me ....when I drop them off they r all nasty....when I pick up they look brand new. Good luck
127, 1650, 1572, 1872, 2072 . A mower, blower and blade for each.

BearKiller
Posts: 180
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 12:27 am
First and Last Name: George Riley
Location: Poverty Springs KY 2018 Wettest State in the Nation

Re: Need Help Finding A Starter

Post by BearKiller »

Well, I ?think? I managed to get the solenoid to snap that plunger in with authority; before I took it apart and cleaned everything up, it wouldn't even click; so, I may be out of the woods yet.

Engine or transmission oil must circulate within these starters; when I pulled it apart, nasty black oil just kept pouring out; there must have been a quart.

According to that, it must also have a wet clutch and wet brakes; both much preferred to the dry kind.

Some eight or so years ago, I had it apart and it needed brushes; me being poor old pitiful me, I took a used set of ND/Cummins starter brushes and ground them to fit; the used Cummins brushes had more meat left on them than the starter probably had when new.

Alas, after many many long --- very long --- cranking spells, my homemade brushes have finally given up the ghost; one of them had fallen apart in crumbles.

It is amazing that this thing was cranking with authority right up until the second that it died.

The engine is indirect injection with glow plugs; hence the overly long time it takes to fire; were it direct injection, like a Cummins or Perkins, it would fire quicker than you could get off the starter button.

I am going to follow your advice and try a new Menonite starter shop that the locals have been giving high praise.

The reason I ended up making homemade brushes the last time is on account of I wasted no less than five 40-mile-one-way trips to a so-called starter shop that kept giving me the runaround and I ended up rescuing my starter from them before they lost it for good; those guys kept making "it will be ready tomorrow" promises and never even took it apart --- which is probably a good thing.

Thanks for reading.

BearKiller
Posts: 180
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 12:27 am
First and Last Name: George Riley
Location: Poverty Springs KY 2018 Wettest State in the Nation

Re: Need Help Finding A Starter

Post by BearKiller »

All is well that ends well.

I took the starter to the Mennonite shop and he FIXED it.

Before attempting a fix, he measured it every which way and dug through page after page in big old-timey catalogs, then he got on the phone to some starter repairman's hotline that he was a member of; those guys found TWO replacement starters in the entire world, one in the Netherlands and another in the Ukraine --- call for pricing --- we didn't call.

So, he overhauled the one I had; he turned the armature, as it was egg-shaped, and ground new brushes to fit, along with fixing or replacing just about everything else.

I put it back on the engine and it now whirls the engine like a cyclone, better than it ever had before; I doubt it cranked any better when brand-new.

He told me that this go-around was it; if the armature ever arced again, there wasn't enough meat left to withstand another turning; so, with that in mind, once I get it started for the day, it won't get shut off until the job is done.

Thanks for reading.

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dag1450
Posts: 2356
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 3:16 pm
First and Last Name: Dave Gibson
Location: Chalfont, Pa

Re: Need Help Finding A Starter

Post by dag1450 »

Good to hear George! .....but...u do know that phone he was on was not hooked up (they don't use phones). He was just putting on a show ...so it looked like u were out of luck. This way whatever the bill....u will b glad to pay it :lol:
If the phone looked like this.....yea..u got taken
If the phone looked like this.....yea..u got taken
maple_phone.jpg (50.81 KiB) Viewed 2704 times
127, 1650, 1572, 1872, 2072 . A mower, blower and blade for each.

BearKiller
Posts: 180
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 12:27 am
First and Last Name: George Riley
Location: Poverty Springs KY 2018 Wettest State in the Nation

Re: Need Help Finding A Starter

Post by BearKiller »

dag1450 wrote:..u do know that phone he was on was not hooked up (they don't use phones).
We have had several differing sects of Amish and Mennonites living all around us for the last forty years and all of them have had phones and they love to talk on them, worse than old busy-body women.

Every Amish/Mennonite business around here has at least one computer on the front counter.

This guy had a land-line phone better than the one we have, and ours is pretty good; if he had been outside he would have used the cell-phone he had hanging from his belt.

Although his shop is twenty miles into the middle of nowhere, he had power-company-supplied 3-phase and more technical equipment than any shop I have ever been in.

Anyone used to the old order horse-&-buggy Amish wouldn't know what to make of the modernized Mennonites we have here; all of the die-hard no-electricity no-vehicle ones are relocating to Tennessee.

This modernized bunch still dresses like the old ones, and still have dozens of kids, but they now drive Cummins diesel trucks and 16-passenger vans.

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