SHILOHSAM

UPDATE TO MY FEB. 8TH POST

The dry lube on the starter armature shaft did seem to solve the problem, however the problem resurfaced again even in warm weather and applying the dry lube no longer worked.   

I removed the rectangular cover on the bell housing,  the one with the four large bolts on the starter side.    Using a small mirror and good lighting one can actually see the end of the starter drive as it engages the flywheel.   I had my wife engage the starter while I viewed the starter drive and flywheel.   As is typical with this problem at times the starter will work fine and other times it just spins and not turn the flywheel.  I could now clearly see the problem.   The starter drive was always fully engaging the flywheel teeth 100% of the time even when the starter was just spinning and not turning the flywheel.   It was the one way clutch in the starter drive that was slipping,  not a problem with the gear teeth not engaging as I had formerly thought.  A new starter drive gear ($35) solved the problem.

 I opened up the defective clutch on the old drive gear by cutting off the outer band that is around the clutch to find  the problem.   This type of one way clutch use several roller that ram up and clinch and hold the drive teeth of the clutch.  These rollers are aided by small accordion style springs that push against the rollers.  These springs had lost their tension and collapsed and were not doing their job of assisting engagement.   I suppose in most cases a really good spin of the starter overcame this weakness and the rotational force alone will engage the clutch.   So if you have this problem you might consider checking the starter drive by viewing through opening in the bell housing before buying the more expensive solenoid.