I had the same thing happen to me. Never could figure out how that spring was supposed to go back in. I ended up sending it out to Peter at GDL and buying a new one.

John

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Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
2002 F250 powerstroke with Plantdrive WVO conversion
1983 300SD 190K miles ,sold
2006 E320 CDI

I just had mine apart a few weeks ago.

The spring you are refering to is a return spring for the half moon gear. It is a challenge to get back together. From what I can remember the spring slides over the shaft of the half moon gear, one end of the spring "catches" on the gear, and the other end slides into a grove in the case. You'll need to wind it a little to get the one end of the spring into the case. I used a very small screw driver to hold the "tang" of the spring out so it slides into the grove of the case.

Hope this helps and didn't cofuse you more!!!

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87' 300sdl

That helps quite a bit. There is bumper on the case with a vertical groove on the right side that looked like the spring should catch in there somehow. The spring has a straight end and an end with a right angle that I'm guessing is what you are referring to as the tang.

If I follow you correctly the straight end of the spring sits in the gear in the slot that looks like the spring should fit there and the tang catches in the groove in the case. I tried doing that but it didn't seem to make sense to me. Do you remember which way you wound the spring and if the spring tension pushed the gear clockwise or counterclockwise? I'm not sure which direction the gear returns.

The spring is wound clockwise. Remember, the spring returns the throttle to the idle position. It should be assembled so the throttle linkage will spring to idle. The control shaft coming out of the actuator should spring clockwise.

If it springs counterclockwise that means it is forcing the throttle to full fuel!!!! Thats Bad!!!

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87' 300sdl

Thanks for the help with the spring. I managed to get it put together correctly but the motor is still not running reliably. After checking the contacts with an ohmmeter it looks like I have some bad windings.
Some serious studying of the assembly shows that it was not designed to be serviced. The brushes are held in plastic retainers that are attached to the bottom of the circuit board which itself covers the bushing and clip that holds the gear end of the motor shaft. After chiseling off the peened over mounting studs and goofing around with the wiring I pulled the circuit board off and removed the circlip holding the armature in place. I'm going to call Tampa Armature when they open on Monday and see if they will be willing to rewind such a small armature.
If I manage to get the armature rewound and put the whole thing back together I'll take some pictures of the dis and re assembly process and post a DIY somewhere.