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Starter grinding flywheel

Tiny
RAMWILL
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 DODGE RAM
  • 158,500 MILES
I bought a brand new starter and after proper installation the starter is grinding the flywheel. I thought it might have been the bolts so I bought brand new bolts for the starter and put them on and it is still grinding. It will start sometimes but will grind at first, sometimes it will just grind the flywheel and not start. I checked the flywheel teeth and they seemed to look fine. PLEASE HELP
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 3:34 PM

14 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Recheck the starter. The teeth could be different. Count the number of tooth and measure the outer diameter to be sure.
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 3:50 PM
Tiny
RAMWILL
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  • 8 POSTS
The starter is made for the truck are you saying that I could need a starter with more or less teeth? The starter has 11 teeth
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 3:57 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Did you confirm the replacement starter is exactly the same as previous and was problem present prior to replacement?

Reman starters can be wrong.
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 4:50 PM
Tiny
RAMWILL
  • MEMBER
  • 8 POSTS
Initially when my truck wouldnt start I thought it was the starter so I bought a new one and it still didnt start. This was before the grinding the starter seemed to not have enough juice. It ended up being a ground wire. I replaced the ground and already had the new starter on and it started fine the first time. The second time it started to grind but started. I took the starter off and the teeth was fine so I put the starter back on and now it is just grinding the teeth of the flywheel like it is just grazing it. And it is the same starter as the one I took out
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 5:03 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
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If it is the same starter that was originally on vehicle, I would be looking for installation faults. Something is causing the reach of the starter pinion gear to be shortened causing the grinding.
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 5:10 PM
Tiny
RAMWILL
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  • 8 POSTS
How would make the gear extend out to fully contact the flywheel? Could I possibly need longer mounting bolts or set the starter in a certain way?
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 5:13 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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I just want to confirm this.

Is this the original or the new starter that you have in vehicle?
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 5:43 PM
Tiny
RAMWILL
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  • 8 POSTS
New starter
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 5:57 PM
Tiny
RAMWILL
  • MEMBER
  • 8 POSTS
The starter bolts to mount it were mismatch and did not seem to tighten fully, so I bought new bolts that tighten down very well, they are not as long but they tighten the starter down as much as possible. So I didnt think that really mattered as long as the bolts were tightened as uch as possible
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 6:00 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Remove the starter and compare it visually with the original starter. The new starter could be of the wrong dimensions.
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 6:34 PM
Tiny
RAMWILL
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  • 8 POSTS
I did that and it is the same exact starter no different. Could it be that the starter gear or flywheel has been shaved enough that it doesnt get a good grip on the flywheel? It just seems as if the starter gear isnt close enough to the flywheel, which I am sure is causing it to be close enough to where it grazes the flywheel but doesnt fully engage
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 8:22 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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You mentioned the bolts were mismatched? I don't see how it could be so if both starters are exactly the same.

If the original starter has the correct reach, I see no reason why the new one should have any problem.

Ground the starter housing and apply battery voltage to the solenoid to see if the pinion gear is moving out fully. There is a possibility the starter pinion is not moving out fully due to the solenoid movement.
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 8:36 PM
Tiny
RAMWILL
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When I took off the old starter there were two bolts mounting the starter into place, one of the bolts was a stud with a nut on it and the other bolt looked like the original starter bolt. I went ahead and got two of the same size bolts new and put them on the new starter
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 8:42 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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When starter is seated fully, the ridge of the snout shole be fully seated. While tightening, you should slowly tighten the bolts while shaking the starter to ensure it is seated correctly.

Apart from not seatng correctly and a mismatched starter, I can't see any problem with starter not getting the correct reach.
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Saturday, September 29th, 2012 AT 8:55 PM

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