Guys,

So I went to start my car today and is made a weird noise. You know when you are drunk and you start the car twice, that bad "starter scratching" noise. Well mine was doing that, but on the first start. So I thought that maybe this was a sign of my starter on its way out. I even shut the car off three times in my driveway and stared it again and it did it every time.

So I took it to a buddy of mine who is a mechanic to see what he thought. When I got there I could not get the the car to replicate the noise. I must have started it 10 - 15 times.

So I described it to him like I said above, and he said that my flywheel may have a few busted teeth. And when the starter is trying to start the car by spinning the flywheel, it is grinding over the teeth until it finally catches and starts.

Once my car is running, all is well. Runs fine with no performance problems at all. Do you think it is my starter, do I need a new flywheel, or is it something else. If you have any ideas or think the above sounds right, please chime in. THanks!

BTW - I have a ACT after market clutch (been in for about 1 1/2 years) and its a MY2002 and has 60k miles.

Mike

 

im thinking its the starter and not the flywheel. you wouldnt get that grinding sound if you had some missing teeth on the flywheel. the grinding is from the teeth on both the flywheel and starters teeth slipping. Sounds like the problem my buddy had on his bronco. we replaced his starter and it never happened again.
Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

Thanks alot man! That is what I was leaning to as well.

Know of a good place to pick up a starter cheap?

 

i have this issue, mainly when it is cold out and starting the car first thing in the morning.

many people claim that it's a TCT issue, and then more recently people say it's the starter.

anyhow, this noise went away when i switched to amsoil 5w40 from amsoil 10w30.

then i topped off with 10w30 (about 1 quart) and the noise is back.

i have so much 10w30 left over that i will live with the noise, then re-diagnose with 5w40 later on.

give 5w40 a try and see if it works for you as well.

 

I run Mobil 1 Full Synthetic 10w30 EP. Been using it for about a year. Still wondering why it would start doing this only within the last week.

On a side note, with 60k miles shouldn't I stick with 10w30? Wouldn't switching to 5w40 cause more oil blow by?

 

Next time it acts up manually turn the engine a little before you try and start it. The engine compression will cause the engine to stop in only 2 spots so if there is flywheel wear it will be on 2 spots where the starter is (the other wear spot will be 180 deg from the first wear spot).

If the car starts normally then you probably have a bad flywheel ring gear. If it still act up then you have a bad starter.

 

i don't think the issue is diagnosing the problem...it is pretty much the starter.

my solution has been switching to 5w40.

in regards to 5w40 causing more blowby, i doubt it.

 

its the TCT.

 

^not quite making the loop how what oil you use can affect the starter. care to explain?

also, to the OP, on the bottom of the tranny, right around where it bolts up to the engine, there is an inspection hole. you can use that to check the teeth on the flywheel, while somebody uses a bar to turn the engine.

good luck!

james

 

wait, we need mroe info.

while its making that horrible noise, is it cranking the engine? - will the engine start while it makes that noise? if it DOES its the TCT.

if it does NOT, its eithier the flywheel or the starter.

now, if it happens ALL the time, more likely than not its the starter. If it happens only SOMETIEMS it could be both the flywheel and starter.

if it happens, try leave it in gear, move the car a little. this will move the flywheel a little - then try start it up. if this works, its the flywheel. if it doesnt...it could be the starter.

next, try whack the starter with a hammer. if this makes it work it means the starter is sticking!


could be a lot of things....