Ok, so im guessing a few of you with high milers have had the terrible grinding noise and starter not engaging at startup before. Well my old starter did it occasionally, but it died so I got a new one but now the new one seems to grind a lot more and have a lot more trouble starting. Does anyone know what I can do about this problem because its really bothering me? thanks

 

you sure you have the right starter? i think there is a 8 tooth and a 11 tooth starter, you possiblily have the wrong one?

Alvin

 

Are the 12a starters from 83 different from 85? I might have said I have an 85 because thats the year of the body but I had to put in a new motor. I thought all 12as were the same?

 

i think all 12a starters are the same.

I put an n/a fc starter on my 12a and it works fine.

Danny

 

You could have damaged teeth on the ring gear/flywheel. Remove the starter and have an assistant turn the engine by turning the belts... Observe the condition of the ring gear's teeth.

 

Aren't the size of the flywheels different from 83 and 84-88 or something like that. Does that matter?

 

sounds like either the ring gear is damaged or the starter drive is bad. You can check the starter drive if you grab the gear in the starter and try to turn it the gear should turn kinda easy 1 direction and very hard the other way (unless you use pliers) this is a 1 way clutch and the springs break in them and they can't force the rollers grab. best time to check it is when your looking at the flywheel teeth. also it might only spin both ways sometimes so try it a few times after rotatin it the hard direction.

 

if new starter is in car and still grinds, then flywheel must be f*cked up (grinded teeth, missing, what not)

 

OK, well this problem remains, and Ive just been living with it, but I need to get this worked out as it can be embarassing to get the horrible grinding sound sevral times before it will turn the engine over. In response to all the above posts, I do have the correct starter, my flywheel doesnt appear to be bitched, and the problem has happened on 2 different starters. Is there any chance that the angle of my starter is out enough that the gears wouldnt mesh easily, or could this be a wiring issue (not enough power to the starter)? No one has had this problem before? Im prety sure its nothing major, and im just missing something little . Help me! haha, thanks.

 

The starters are the same: I replaced an 83 an 85 and an 85SE this summer: same starter. There is an oddball starter for an auto trans, but I'm not sure it will fit in the manual trans mount. It has a different number of pinion teeth, 11 instead of 14, as I recall. You can check it out, on the www.autorock.com site if nowhere else.

Sometimes aftermarket rebuilds are defective (maybe the Hells Angel mechanic was on meth when he did it) so I am very wary about rebuilds. I buy them, because they're cheap, but I always check them at the autostore before installing. And I try hard to find a good rebuilder.

I've never had this particular problem on any car, and I've had a lot of cars, and I've had a lot of starter problems. Did this problem develop over many years, or did you just buy the car used?

B

 

I've had the problem on both my -SE's.

The problem was some worn teeth on the flywheel.
Not a lot I could go about it, so I lubed the parts up and left it.

 

I had a problem with my 3rd gen that sounds similar. Make sure the ring gear on your flywheel hasn't broken free or shifted. I tried a bunch of different things before I realized it was the ring gear. If that does turn out to be the prob, you will have to pull down the tranny, so pray thats not the prob, it's a major pain in the ***.

If you take off the starter and use a flashlight and a screwdriver you can see if the ring gear can move indepentdently of the flywheel. I can put the ring gear back in place by putting the ring gear in the oven and the flywheel in the freezer. When you take them both out the ring gear should slide right on.

 

Re-manufactured starter are sometimes defective. That happened to me once. I replaced my starter with a re-manufactured one and it still grinds at start up. Had to go back and get a different one.

 

Had that same problem with an remanufactured Auto Zone starter.

Life time Guarantee, but it is a hassle removing the starter, taking it back, arguing with the manager, orderring another starter that will be just as bad, and having an idle car while waiting for it. I got another remanufactured starter from another place, and solved the problem.

No doubt they (or anyother place) thought of this when they came up with the life time guarantee exchange policy.

Auto Zone stills gets my business....for waste oil.

 

Although I bought the car used, the same problem has happened on 2 different motors and flywheels on the same bellhousing. When I replaced the engine the flywheel was in great condition and shortly after finding out the old starter continued to grind on the new flywheel, I purchased a new starter. These cars dont have any adjustments or use any shims like some old cars do, do they? Aparently on older cars an improperly adjusted starter would have all the same symptoms. So, is it possible that when I bolted it on there was something between the starter and bellhousing causing the angle to be incorrect? Is this even a possibility? My father suggested that perhaps shimming the outter half of the starter to just slightly change the angle it will engage at might help. Im sure it cant hurt, but seeing as my flywheel IS FINE, you guys think its just a faulty starter?
Wiring couldnt be the issue here?