Startix repair

[SHyslop]

When I was young, I was told of one of the most heathenish inventions on a 30s car, namely the Startix. I won't have been alone in this, it was described the way Ewan McGregor's character is told of Paris by his father in the film "Moulin Rouge".

However, if you leave aside the auto restarting function, the Startix box has something going for it and that is it is a quality built starter solenoid in a rather interesting period box unlike a fairly cheap looking round or square solenoid of today which is secured by self tappers at a jaunty angle under the bonnet. The Startix system was fitted between 1934 and 1936.

If your Startix just clicks when you turn the key, or clicks occasionally rather than energises the starter, the probable cause is that the contacts inside need cleaning. Assuming your car has had the wiring "adjusted" to just offer the hand starting facility, then here is what to do. If you still have the wiring for the automatic function as well, then there are more connections to deal with and the question may arise of whether to keep that facility. As Sergeant Wilson often says : "Do you think that's wise, Sir?"

You will need about an hour; a 5/8" AF spanner for the starter and main battery terminals on the unit, a 3/16" W (1/4 BSF) spanner for the two mounting screws, a 5/16"AF for the two small Earth and Hand terminals - a contact point file, a medium slot screwdriver, a small Mole/Vice Grip and a standard round file or drill with appropriate sized bit, finally a simple multimeter

Switch off the battery power to the car or disconnect the battery.

Note the wire positions and disconnect the main and starter cables, the earth wire and the connection to "Hand". If there are wires to the SX-Auto and Cut Out terminals then they are needed if you wish to retain the automatic restarting function , the aforementioned "work of the devil".

With the unit off the car, drill or file out the two fine brass hollow collars/rivets which go through the mounting holes and secure the baseplate to the case. There are two sets of crimping, top and bottom on the long sides and one of these will need to be prised up with either or both of the screwdriver and Mole, not too far, and the base should come off.

You will see the starter switch contacts, as shown in the handbook for the car, at the lower left side. These comprise a fairly thick copper disc which, when the solenoid is actuated, is pulled to the solenoid to contact the two main terminals together. You will probably see that the contacts on the mating faces are corroded. This can be tested with a multimeter with a continuity function. Push the moving contact to the other two with both large terminals connected to the meter. If it doesn't beep or show life for continuity, that's the problem.

With the contact point file, thoroughly clean the faces of the copper disc and the two mating faces on the fixed points. Once these are cleaned completely - for the disc can spin so it needs to be cleaned all round - the unit will now hopefully work. This may take a little time with the file because the corrosion can be hard to remove completely. The electrically capable will see it is an easy task to connect it to a 12v power supply and see that it is working as it should so I shall not bore you with the obvious.

The base is repositioned and the crimping redone with the Mole, the brass rivets being not really necessary. Reconnection is the reverse of disassembly and your unit will hopefully now work reliably. I have four of these now working and they are just a nice period item worth restoring rather than throwing away. The curious may ask, why are the nuts AF? If I remember correctly, these units would be made in the USA by Bendix and just have the Lucas badge fixed to them.