help with grinding starter

[sweetone]

Please some one help me

I just obtained an 86 bronco 2 v6 4 speed
it just keeps chewing up starters, the fly wheel and flex plate have been replaced already. i put in a new starter and had three starts with a loud grinding noise. then i tryed to start it again and all i get is very loud grinding.. so now i put a shim on the starter (some body tod me to ) and it still doing the same thing..


any one have any ideas

thanks
sweetone

 

[77broncoguy]

I bought an expensive starter from JBG and I had that problem. Went to Napa and bought a starter for half the price and noticed the gear traveled a fraction of an inch further than the one from JBG. Just for ha ha's, I put the Napa one on, and it worked perfectly. Only problem is that JBG said I must be crazy, all of thier starters fit perfectly, and wouldn't take it back.

I'd take your starter to Napa and see how they compare, you might find you had the same problem i did.

 

[77broncoguy]

I hope it's not the case, but... you said flexplate/flywheel have been replaced. Any chance it was installed backwards?

Also check the part number, and then double check to make sure you have the correct one. Good luck.

 

[RRRAAAYYY2]

Any chance of posting a picture of the starter's drive gear teeth. Or at minimum explaining in detail what they look like. If there has been grinding going on, there should be evidence on the drives teeth.
Also the grinding noise you hear, any chance it sounds like a cat in a blender?

 

[74bob]

Check to make sure the bellhousing bolts are tight. Maybe they are loose and there might be a gap(?) causing the starter to engage on an angle(?).

You might have torn up the teeth on the flywheel / flexplate already (flywheel for manual transmission and flexplate for automatic you said both so don't know which one you have).

 

[sweetone]

sorry about that its a manual 4sd 4wd 2.9lit v6

the teeth on flywheel are fine and the starters gear teeth look like they havent been tuched either.

no it dose done soud like a cat in a blinder or wine it soiunds mre like steel being gind down to little bitty bits lol

ill try to attach the pics of the starter

 

[sweetone]

sorry i cant send pics i cant do attachments dont know why.

 

[77broncoguy]

you have to be a contributor to upload pics. You can email me some at btolan41@aol.com, and I can post them for you.

 

[RRRAAAYYY2]

My books only show one possible starter for the 2.9, so I don't know what to tell you. On the V8's the manual and automatic starters are different. But they are opening from the other side.
There is a flat surface right underneath the drive pinion, does it have a bunch of swirl patterns on it?

 

[sweetone]

flat surface

it dont look like it has any swirls on it..

i am using lock washers on the bolts would that keep the starter from going in far enough for the bendix to engage into the flywheel?

a few people told me that the bendix is not reaching the flywheel and thats why i need a long nose starter but when i go to the part stors they say there is no such starter and look at me as im nuts lol

 

[RRRAAAYYY2]

If the lock washers are on the bolts, and not inbetween the housings, they will have no effect.
People that are telling you about the two starters are talking about the difference between an automatic starter (short) and a manual starter (long). But if you look at the front of them, the opening for the drive is on the left hand side.
But on your starter the opening is on the right hand side. I don't know off hand of another starter similar to yours. i.e. you have only one choice.

I really don't know what to tell you, other than I think you have the wrong fly wheel.

 

[sweetone]

flywheel

ok
so what size flywheel should i have and how many teeth should it have...ill try to count the one on it but it will take me a bit..with the rain and all..

thanks again

 

[Broncobowsher]

ok
so what size flywheel should i have and how many teeth should it have...ill try to count the one on it but it will take me a bit..with the rain and all..

thanks again

Please keep in mind most of the advice here is for dealing with early Broncos (66-77). Since you are running a Bronco II (which I once owned and really liked) The advice you are looking at tends to apply to V8 parts about 10 years or more older then what you have. Your German V6 bolted to a Japanese transmission was probably overlooked by many people who have replied so far.

It sounds like the problem started after the clutch was replaced. You got a new flywheel and pressure plate. Since that is when the problem started, that is where you need to be looking at. Maybe you got a flywheel that had the starter ring pressed on wrong. Or the gear wasn't machined right? Just because it is new doesn't mean it was made correctly.

 

[sweetone]

problem starter

no the problem started be for the flywheel was replaced but the flywheel that was replaced didnt seem to have any thing wrong but they changed it any cause they had it out already. it was bought with that problem the guy that sold it said it only need a starter and we ended up replaceing starter after starter then the flywhee and still the same thing is happening starts the first two times but grinds with it and the after that all it dose is grind but when u take the starter out to inspect it it dosnt have a mark on it or the flywheel this is were im stumped..

 

[RRRAAAYYY2]

If there is grinding, there has to be marks some where. Check the pinion for movement. It should not spin one way, and spin the other way with some resistance. Can you spin it with one finger?
You do have an old direct drive starter installed. There is no solenoid bolted to the starter, right?
A picture would still be nice. You can also put a coat of paint on the pinion, and then reinstall the starter. This will show exactly where the starters teeth are engaging.
Anyway for you to check for runout on the flywheel? If it is warped and you land on the wide side, the starter will not work correctly.
Sorry I can't give you a firm answer and I am running out of ideas. You could always put a V8 in it.

 

[sweetone]

starter marks

ok on very very close inspection of the starter there are no marks on the bendix teeth , there are however slight marks just behind the teeth that are hard to see unless it is engaged with a screw driver..no i can not turn the gears with ease and it just turns one way only. there is nothing mounted to the starter either..



thank every one for all the advice

 

[RRRAAAYYY2]

Without the picture of the marks or one of the starters, I don't know if I can do much more. Another thing I got thinking about is crankshaft end play. It is possible, seen maybe two or three times, that the rear bearings are gone or really worn. This could cause the problem as well. (Depending on where exactly the marks are. ) Even if you cannot get a close up of the pinion, label it with a marker or hand draw a sketch.

 

[Mark]

Have you tried installing a starter shim?
It's a $2 little spacer that I've had to use on my bronco to back it out an 1/8" of an inch, otherwise I would get that grinding noise.
Most auto parts places have these.

 

[sweetone]

shim

yes i did try using a shim and it sounded a little louder with the shim on..


thanks

 

[sweetone]

srarter

well i found a bronco in the junk yard and took the starter from it.. put it on my bronco and of course it did the same thing started twice with a loud grind and then nothing but grinding.. so i think i decided to go back to the yard and get the beel housing and the flywheel and in stall it to mine just to see if that fixes it..i hope

ill let ya all know


thanks again
T