Starter issues. what do you think?

[mike96]

I am done, I have had it, between this and my no boost issue this car has to go... I am ready to wait until I hear that @$$ H0!e down the street driving thru my neighborhood like a lunatic so I can take the e-brake off and push my car out in front of him and let the insurance handle it..... ... ...

J.K...

Seriously though. Three starters and they all do the same thing. Grinding noise… Not the kind of grinding noise like bearings bad grinding. Grinding like the gear on the starter isn’t popping all the way out and grinding on the teeth of the flywheel. The most recent starter is brand new and the other two started out working fine then after a few days would start making the noise. This new one did it right away. Most of the time it will catch and rotate the motor fine just makes an awful noise doing it, but every now and then the starter motor just spins... Second time I had the starter out I had my wife turn the motor over for me slowly with a breaker bar so I could look at the ring gear on the flywheel and it looks all right. Today I disconnected the clutch switch so that I can start the car without having to push the clutch in but that didn’t change anything.

So I am going to start pulling the trans out so I can find out WTF..... in the mean time let’s make a game of it...

What do you think is wrong?
Winner gets the satisfaction of knowing he guessed the correct answer.

 

[Lofty]

Are all the bolts holding the transmission in?

All 4?

Post the code off the top of your transmission, just for reference.

Is it a stock flywheel?

Also, pull the starter out. Does the gear wiggle any?

Buy OEM next time. I know. It sucks.

 

[mike96]

Are all the bolts holding the transmission in?

All 4?

Post the code off the top of your transmission, just for reference.

Is it a stock flywheel?

Also, pull the starter out. Does the gear wiggle any?

Buy OEM next time. I know. It sucks.

Yes/yes. And actually there are 5 bolts, 2 on top 1 in the back over by the front driveshaft and 2 up by the clutch slave.

5W332MUZT

No. fideza (is that correct spelling?)

No. gears on all three starters are tight. No wiggle>

The first two were oem, the third is beck arnley.

 

[Maverick4g63]

I would make sure your ground cable is properly secured to the block and battery post. A weak ground could cause partial engagement of the starter gear.

 

[mike96]

Its been a busy couple of nights but I should have the trans dropped today... I am about 95% sure it isn't the ground, I just replaced the grounds with a new pair of cables and made sure the contact areas were clean all three times I pulled the starter.

 

[Talon IV]

I have never done a starter on a DSm but do you possibly have to shim it? could be misaligned. I have had this issue on an old truck of mine.