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1G starter pushes gear out but won't rotate.

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wolf alchemy

Proven Member
724
14
Mar 4, 2014
kouts, Indiana
So I hooked it up to my battery and all my starter did was push out the gear. It didn't rotate. I put the positive to the positive bolt and negative to the other and that didn't do anything. Then put positive on the clip and bolt and it only pushed out the gear. Am I doing something wrong or is this starter dead?
 
What wire? The one on the starter going to the negative bolt? Well not sure if that's a negative bolt since the grounding wire goes on to the starters mounting bolt.
 
The wire you hook up to the positive bolt. If you have both a wire attached from the positive terminal of the battery to the little clip and a wire attached from the positive terminal of the battery to the positive bolt on the starter it should run. Since it isn't one of two things can happen: if the wire from the battery to the positive bolt gets hot, the coil in the motor is shorting directly to ground which means the motor is shot (and this wire will get real hot, real fast so you'll know). If the wire doesn't get hot then it could be the solenoid on the starter that's bad. (If you have a multimeter handy then there is a much easier way to do this)
 
you need to power up the solenoind (small spade terminal) and the main power feed (whatever MM threaded post that the positive cable attaches too) and ground the body of the starter, preferably to one of the mounting ears, to test the starter (sounds like what youre attempting to do).

if you only provide power to one or the other, it will either activate the solenoid for the bendix, or only spin the motor itself.
 
Ok. So oddly enough its shot....but can any one tell me why it was grinding in the first place?
 
But when I hooked it up to the battery it only pushed the gear out all the way[DOUBLEPOST=1409149782][/DOUBLEPOST]Well I'll let you guys know how auto zone goes. I'm just going to take my battery to them[DOUBLEPOST=1409165235][/DOUBLEPOST]I meant starter...not battery.[DOUBLEPOST=1409169031][/DOUBLEPOST]Autozone tested it and it passed all three tests twice.
 
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i never read about your starter grinding till your later post...

if the starter passes the test at the store but wont operate fully in the car (grinds etc) then it is seeing insufficient voltage from the battery during start. check your wires, thoroughly, and make sure all connections are clean.

then, do voltage drop tests. you can do static (while not cranking) and dynamic tests (while cranking, if you have a second pair of hands)

i wouldnt be surprised if you have a decent percentage of drop between the batt and the starter.

im too lazy to look at your mod list, so tell me:

what is the condition of your battery? (age, discharged fully ever, leaks etc)

is your battery relocated?

what are the wire conditions? (dont assume they are good, check them all [power and ground!], and redo them with thoroughly cleaned contact points)

edit: also, CHECK YOUR FLYWHEEL.

post back with any findings.
 
If it matters. It looked like my bell housing starter hump is too big for my starter. Here's two pics. Wish I could do a video. I put the starter back in and took it to a awesome shop after its bloody screaming. (Such horrible grinding). And lastly. It started 4 months after putting my transmission back in. Do these cars have shims. And what the hell is a shim[DOUBLEPOST=1409242407][/DOUBLEPOST]And every thing I practically stock except exhaust component's, and struts. I just remembered something's ng possibly very important. When I bought the car. The transmission wasn't mounted to the body so it was hanging a inch below mount holes. Wouldn't that allow the starter gear to be at a slight upward angle and since I mounted it it took 3 months to start f***ing up?
 

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no shims that i know of. i cant remember if the starters are different between fwd-awd etc. flywheel looks kinda like the outer edge of the teeth have been ground on. starter bendix looks ok.

one thing i dont see, is the spacer plate that goes between the engine and trans.
 
If it was legal. Which its not so it means I won't. I'd bash the previous owner in the hear with a shovel. Never had that spacer plate tame talon92. Any way, my local shop guy told me my starter was shot. One bolt hole was stripped....and I knew that, but refused to acknowledge it because I was tired the other day, and since I've never played with a starter. I didnt know that they shouldn't have something bouncing around inside them.[DOUBLEPOST=1409309761][/DOUBLEPOST]Already got a new a new starter. Plus my NXS MBC came in along with my new oil cap. =DROFL =DROFL
 
You need the starter plate, that is what aligns the starter. A striped mounting hole can be fixed also. Before replacing anything get the right starter plate in there.
 
Two options.
1.look up starter plate
2.wait for you guys to tell me[DOUBLEPOST=1409311997][/DOUBLEPOST]Looked it up. =D and this car never had such a thing.[DOUBLEPOST=1409312104][/DOUBLEPOST]Oh and does the starter plate require transmission removal?
 
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Two options.
1.look up starter plate
2.wait for you guys to tell me[DOUBLEPOST=1409311997][/DOUBLEPOST]Looked it up. =D and this car never had such a thing.[DOUBLEPOST=1409312104][/DOUBLEPOST]Oh and does the starter plate require transmission removal?

What do you mean by this car never had such a thing? Yes the transmission will need to be removed.
 
What do you mean by this car never had such a thing? Yes the transmission will need to be removed.

The previous owner removed the transmission. He never bolted it to the car, he never put fluid in it. He nearly starved the engine with red sealant on the oil pan, but didn't do it right so it started blocking oil flow into the engine. So as stated above. Car during my ownership. Never had one.[DOUBLEPOST=1409341436][/DOUBLEPOST]Help
I have a important question. So should both starter bolts be the same length. Or should one be slightly shorter than the other? Its a 1990 1g. Fwd 5-speed
 
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Well its all fixed and working great now thanks to the starter plate. Plus Mitsubishi, dodge, auto zone said there's no such thing as a starter plate.
 
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