I have a 1931 Austin 7 RM and the starter motor truns but the engine dont turn !! The battery is fully charged and fine and i cant start it useing the handle as that does nuthin. All that seems to move is the starter motor. Never had any problems before, can anyone help me? thanx Lee

Lee, from what you've already told us on the other forum it seems that there is a problem with the starter motor bendix which is preventing it meshing properly with the ring gear.

If the starter ring on the flywheel is very badly damaged it will have to be replaced, which is an engine out job. However, if it's just the bendix on the starter motor you should be able to take it to bits. However... DON'T oil it or grease it. This will only cause it to jam up with muck. The best thing to do is to remove the split-pin and the castellated nut and take it apart. You will see that the pinion is designed to 'walk up' the spiral when the motor kicks in, thereby meshing with the flywheel ring gear. When you release the starter switch, or when the engine speed rises above that of the starter motor it should disengage.

A good lubricant for the bendix is graphite dust, and a ready source of that comes from a pencil lead.

Before you put the starter motor back into the car, test it on the bench with a 6v battery and some jump leads. When you connect it up you should see the bendix pull the pinion back up the shaft, and then it should return to its rest position when you cut the current.

In any case, your 7 should start on the handle if it is set up correctly, but you may need to rig up a clamp of some kind to hold the choke fully out while you use the handle. A touch of hand throttle might help too, but just a tad. Turn the engine over about a dozen times with the ignition off first, to properly prime the carb & cylinders.

Thanx 4 explaing that nice and clearly, the ring gear is not too bad and moved it along a wee bit and all seems fine now, but next week i will do what u say and add some graphite dust on starter motor ok.
Will try out handle in order you say and see what happens. Will report back too..Thanx again Lee
ps im learning so much now, which is great.