96 GSX starter problem / noise / no catch / no start

[Dutchs96GSX]

ok so im new to this side of things and i understand i have a car that has some potential to be pretty bad ass.... a friend hooked me up with the score of the century. 96 gsx automatic..lots of new shiny parts under the hood..looks to be expensive..so quick rundown on whats happening.. turn the key hear this LOUD SCREECH, sometimes it turns the motor over, sometimes it doesn't. Common sense tells me that the flywheel or starter are not catching properly.i dont know any of the cars history, nor can i get it since the previous owner passed away. I see that the torque convertor / flywheel has been replaced and the car ran when that was done. no idea after that...got the starter to catch and the car ran great. shut it off and the starter wouldnt engage. I also noticed that the torque converter / flywheel seemed like it was pretty tight against the starter plate. I plan on pulling the starter plate out when i drop the trans to check everything out. the ideal option for me would be to replace the torque convertor/ starter plate/ starter....but im financially challenged at the moment. so if someone who had no knowledge just started swapping parts out when the car went down i would have to make sure i had the right parts to get this thing running right again. The flywheel for an AWD is the smaller one i believe, and the starter as well..but the part thats confusing me is the plate. tryin to get this corrected as quick as possible as this car is going the be my mid life crisis car and my DD for a bit

 

[rtrocket59]

Inspect the flex plate teeth and starter drive gear teeth for signs of wear. If they check out then test the resistance of the starter. Could be a sign that your starter solenoid is starting to go bad.

 

[Dutchs96GSX]

so what i have been able to find out is that the motor was replaced before the guy died. chances are pretty good that the motor came out of a gs-t and that the starter and starter plate did as well. im dropping the trans out in the morning so i can do a full inspection on the starter plate and torque convertor. im thinking that this could be the culprit of the problem as the garage that did the swap has some not so smart mechanics. Ill post pics tomorrow and let the experts see what they think.

 

[fredyvalles1995]

Also torque starter bolt to spec and make sure you have the dowel pins between trans and block

 

[Dutchs96GSX]

question.....how bad would it be if i didnt replace the starter plate and just removed it instead....anyone who has a moment to chime in it would be appreciated

 

[rtrocket59]

question.....how bad would it be if i didnt replace the starter plate and just removed it instead....anyone who has a moment to chime in it would be appreciated

Do it right..... Get a new starter plate.

 

[fredyvalles1995]

You really need the starter plate.without it your car might start a few times untill the starter moves and than it wont engage with the flywheel teeth

 

[TurkF26]

I just replaced the motor on my 95 gsx auto with one out of a 98 gst manual. I compared the 2 plates before bolting the trans on and they are exactly the same. I lined both of them up, compared the numbers on them, and they are 100% identical. The difference between AWD and FWD is the flywheel and starter itself. The inspection plates (starter plates) are the same.

Post us pics once its off

 

[Dutchs96GSX]

ok so new plate is in, new starter is in, old flywheel still there...the starter is catching on the outside of the flywheel...side closest to the motor. which is now leading me to think the convertor is wrong. im almost tempted to call in a pro and just have it hauled off and done right....time isnt available for me to work on it myself, i work 75 hrs a week, 2 kids in day camp and have a wife that needs attention also. not sure what gives, but im seperating everything again today to see what i can figure out.

 

[Dutchs96GSX]

ok so heres an update. got everything back in, now the motor is slowly turning over..torque convertor is hard to turn.... so now im thinking that the problem lies within the trans, or at least the input shaft. thursday is my next day off and the trans is coming out....im bolting the extra TC on when i have it out to see how the motor runs and also to check the starter alignment. pics to follow

 

[Dutchs96GSX]

Well trans is out, the bushing / seal on the shaft where the TC slides in was all bent up and mangled, causing the TC to become locked up and not wanting to spin. hopefully this is what has been causing the problem....makes sense that it wasnt sitting right causing alignment issues for the starter, etc. will update soon im gonna take some pics, my friend is a trans guy and hes gonna come open her up and see what we are up against. just got a new phone so im
going to be able to take some pics.