Mitch_d06
Probationary Member
- 5
- 0
- Mar 27, 2025
-
Sydney,
Australia
Hey all,
So I have a horrendous grinding noise whenever I try to crank and start my car. It still starts and spins freely and once its started there are no odd noises and runs and drives fine.
I have replaced the starter and it made a slight difference for a bit, although the noise was still not normal it wasn't as gross, over time though eventually returned to that original grinding noise and then the starter just spun freely without cranking. Given the circumstances I assumed my flywheel teeth had given up so I just recently finally bought an oem flywheel with very good teeth and installed it, inspected the starter and saw minimal if any damage and reinstalled the newer starter only to hear the same horrid noise, as well as the engine cranking very slowly.
For reference the car is a 1994 AUSDM 1.8T AWD Lancer GSR that has been engine swapped to a 1G 7 bolt 4g63 (early evo 3), still retaining the 1.8 AWD gearbox, a built one to OEM specs.
A bit of background; when I first bought the car, the gearbox cracked in half and rested on the flywheel via sagging, leading to it grinding the flywheel teeth while the car was running. Additionally for the one or so day I got to enjoy the car before the box went, the starter seized every once in a while. This is what led to me believing my flywheel teeth were the reason for said issue.
Another slightly related piece of info is that the first starter popped due to me cranking it for too long leading to smoke coming out of the bay and hence I assumed the Bendix just gave out or the solenoid from overuse as it was a very old and shabby looking starter. The new starter however gave out after changing the flywheel very quickly. After about maybe 5 starts in total (including attempts) and not cranking very long, it would just click and not do anything.
After swapping batteries and trying to jumpstart I determined it was indeed the starter that died. After some messing around I found that when I held the key in the cranking position it wasn't the starter itself that was smoking, it was wiring in a completely separate area which I assume led back to the starter somewhere, as it was grounded to paint (so basically not even grounded). Once I sanded the surface back and reattached the very bodgy wiring, it stopped smoking although still getting quite hot.
Now I've ordered a brand new starter to install, and while I wait I thought I'd make this post to ask for any help or solutions as to why my car grinds so much when starting. I really don't wanna go through dropping my box again, or buying another starter. I thought it was important to mention that wiring info as I've heard that power issues can cause grinding too. I also have the starter plate that's the correct one however it looks like its been snapped and welded back together at some point. We've tried shimming the starter out further from the box as this new one is for a Galant 6 bolt VR4 4g63 seemed to be shorter than the old popped starter (which from investigating the part number seems to be an old Colt starter?), but this only made the noise worse. The starter I have now purchased is for a CE9A
Please let me know if any of you have any ideas, I would appreciate it heaps !
So I have a horrendous grinding noise whenever I try to crank and start my car. It still starts and spins freely and once its started there are no odd noises and runs and drives fine.
I have replaced the starter and it made a slight difference for a bit, although the noise was still not normal it wasn't as gross, over time though eventually returned to that original grinding noise and then the starter just spun freely without cranking. Given the circumstances I assumed my flywheel teeth had given up so I just recently finally bought an oem flywheel with very good teeth and installed it, inspected the starter and saw minimal if any damage and reinstalled the newer starter only to hear the same horrid noise, as well as the engine cranking very slowly.
For reference the car is a 1994 AUSDM 1.8T AWD Lancer GSR that has been engine swapped to a 1G 7 bolt 4g63 (early evo 3), still retaining the 1.8 AWD gearbox, a built one to OEM specs.
A bit of background; when I first bought the car, the gearbox cracked in half and rested on the flywheel via sagging, leading to it grinding the flywheel teeth while the car was running. Additionally for the one or so day I got to enjoy the car before the box went, the starter seized every once in a while. This is what led to me believing my flywheel teeth were the reason for said issue.
Another slightly related piece of info is that the first starter popped due to me cranking it for too long leading to smoke coming out of the bay and hence I assumed the Bendix just gave out or the solenoid from overuse as it was a very old and shabby looking starter. The new starter however gave out after changing the flywheel very quickly. After about maybe 5 starts in total (including attempts) and not cranking very long, it would just click and not do anything.
After swapping batteries and trying to jumpstart I determined it was indeed the starter that died. After some messing around I found that when I held the key in the cranking position it wasn't the starter itself that was smoking, it was wiring in a completely separate area which I assume led back to the starter somewhere, as it was grounded to paint (so basically not even grounded). Once I sanded the surface back and reattached the very bodgy wiring, it stopped smoking although still getting quite hot.
Now I've ordered a brand new starter to install, and while I wait I thought I'd make this post to ask for any help or solutions as to why my car grinds so much when starting. I really don't wanna go through dropping my box again, or buying another starter. I thought it was important to mention that wiring info as I've heard that power issues can cause grinding too. I also have the starter plate that's the correct one however it looks like its been snapped and welded back together at some point. We've tried shimming the starter out further from the box as this new one is for a Galant 6 bolt VR4 4g63 seemed to be shorter than the old popped starter (which from investigating the part number seems to be an old Colt starter?), but this only made the noise worse. The starter I have now purchased is for a CE9A
Please let me know if any of you have any ideas, I would appreciate it heaps !
