Do I need a new starter or flywheel?
If it's happening after the engine starts then this suggests that the starter motor's cog is getting stuck engaged with the flywheel. If you remove the starter motor then you might be able to fix it by oiling it. For safety disconnect the battery before removing it and don't try connecting up this powerful motor with it off the vehicle unless you know what you're doing.
How do you line up a starter with the flywheel?
The Mounting Bolts are supposed to align the starter, If it didn't grind the old one but does the new the problem is the new starter. Removethe starter and hook the Batt NEG to the starter case, HOLD the starter,the Batt POS to the big bolts on the starter and listen for the grind.
Starter won't engage the flywheel?
There are 2 possibilites here. Either the Abendix is shot or the flexplate(flywheel) has a dead spot in it. The abendix what actually drives the motor when you place the key into the start position. When the starter motor engages it 'spins' a smaller gear(abendix) which meshes with the flexplate and spins the motor. Everytime you shutoff your motor it has 3 positions it will come to rest in everytime. Therefore these 3 places, depending on where it comes to rest, are where the starter engages everytime thus wearing in these postions more than the rest of the flexplate.
Is it the flywheel or starter?
For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/axSgb I grilled my husband - an ASE Certified double master mechanic - about your problem and he feels for you. He also threw so many questions and details at me that I only pray I remember them all in the correct connotations. His first demand was "Where did he get the new starter?" According to him you can't go to any automotive supply store and get a reliable new (or rebuilt) starter because they are assembled haphazardly and the testing they go through is very minor and ineffective. He says you need to take the starter (either the one that came with the car or the one that you bought to replace it) and take it to a GOOD starter/alternator rebuild shop and have them rebuild it for you. They will be able to help you determine if you have all the correct parts that you should have to make it work correctly. My husband has always hated working on Fords - they make great-looking cars but they don't make them to be fixed (very time-consuming and knuckle-breaking for mechanics) and he says the parts are much more expensive than the vehicles he prefers. He suggests you buy a Subaru (not that the parts are less expensive, but they are very reliable) but I told him that you want this to be the last car you purchase. He seems to have heard very bad reports about the 3.8 engine, though, and doesn't have a lot of hope that this won't continue being a very expensive purchase for you. Sorry.
New starter motor grinds against flywheel?
First, once you're saying the motor vehicle has refused to start, how does it behave? Is the engine turning over, or is the starter in simple terms spinning? I had a vehicle whose flywheel kit tooth have been worn, and if the engine had in simple terms got here approximately to provide up the place a foul spot on the tooth became into lined up with the starter, it does no longer work together in any respect, and the starter could in simple terms spin freely. If the engine is popping over, yet no longer beginning, the difficulty isn't with the starter. 2d, i do no longer see how a noise whilst turning to the main astonishing could be related to the starter. i'm no longer conscious of Vauxhall, yet no count the make, as quickly as the engine is working, the starter in simple terms hangs there doing no longer something. What you describe sounds extra like a guidance or suspension difficulty. it incredibly is a danger the bolts retaining the starter in place have vibrated loose. that would clarify the noises on startup, plus if clearances are tight decrease than the hood, it would clarify aspects coming jointly that are close, yet do no longer touch whilst each little thing's tight. it incredibly is the least complicated, maximum inexpensive place to start. As observed, in case you do have undesirable engagement of starter & flywheel, you would be wanting to shelter that right now, so which you do no longer harm the kit tooth.
89 ford taurus, grinding starter. new flywheel, new starter, new soleniod.?
I grilled my husband - an ASE Certified double master mechanic - about your problem and he feels for you. He also threw so many questions and details at me that I only pray I remember them all in the correct connotations. His first demand was "Where did he get the new starter?" According to him you can't go to any automotive supply store and get a reliable new (or rebuilt) starter because they are assembled haphazardly and the testing they go through is very minor and ineffective. He says you need to take the starter (either the one that came with the car or the one that you bought to replace it) and take it to a GOOD starter/alternator rebuild shop and have them rebuild it for you. They will be able to help you determine if you have all the correct parts that you should have to make it work correctly. My husband has always hated working on Fords - they make great-looking cars but they don't make them to be fixed (very time-consuming and knuckle-breaking for mechanics) and he says the parts are much more expensive than the vehicles he prefers. He suggests you buy a Subaru (not that the parts are less expensive, but they are very reliable) but I told him that you want this to be the last car you purchase. He seems to have heard very bad reports about the 3.8 engine, though, and doesn't have a lot of hope that this won't continue being a very expensive purchase for you. Sorry.
NEW STARTER, NO CRANK?
Let's stop guessing. You put the starter on, so you know how to take it off. Get yourself a flashlight and take the starter off. Have someone reconnect the batter and turn the keey. You should see that large bendix gear jump all the way forward and spin like hell. It is does, then the starter is doesing it's job. That gear on the starter jumps forward to engage the teeth on your flywheel, which is connected to your crank, and turns over the engine for it to start. Look inside the small hole where the starter was, and you should be able to see the flywheel. Check the teeth on the flywheel of what you can see of it. Are any of the teeth broken? Since you say you just hear a smooth spinning sound, that sounds like the noise of the Bendix gear in your starter. If it's not engaging your flywheel, you are hearing the noise of the starter spinning. If you do have some broken teeth, this will happen every time the engine stops with that part of the flywheel stopped at the starter. When it does, you will have to manually turn that crank to advance the flywheel. Also, humor me. Take your plug wires off the new batter and clean the wires good with a wire spark plug and cable cleaning tool.
Before retiring, I owned an auto repair shop. A guy comes in and says he replaced his battery, replaced the starter twice and the car would still not start. He bought a “rebuilt” alternator and wanted us to install it for him. I told him if he had a new starter and battery, there was no likelihood the alternator was involved, would he like us to troubleshoot the car and try to find the cause of the problem.He aid all he wanted was for us to install the alternator, nothing else. I wrote up the repair order Car does not start, customer wands us to install his supplied alternator and will not allow us to diagnose the problem or touch anything else. Under that circumstance, we are to push the car into the shop, install his supplied alternator and push the car out. Under no circumstance are we to attempt to start the car. The labor will be paid for in cash before the car is pushed out of the shop, the customer will wait for it.I had the customer sign the order and the instructions, and did as he asked.He paid and we pushed the car out of the shop. He tried to start it, nothing happened ao he came back into the shop mad! I told him to read what he had ordered us to do, and then, would he allow us to diagnose the problem and make a repair, charging clock time and allowing us a half hour diagnostic time, to try to find and fix the problem. He agreed and signed a repair order. The Mechanic went to the parts department, got and installed a new ground cable. The problem was that the owner had replaced the ground cable with a short one that he bolted to a loose bracket on the right side of the engine. There was nothing wrong with his battery, starter(s) or alternator. The classic DO IT TO YOUR SELFER.
New starter grinds got any ideas?
Yes, for the umpteenth time, the dummies usually just throw a new started on it and that's all they know how to do as professional "parts changers". Well, a starter is like a differential assembly to some degree and they have to adjust what's called "lash" or the space between the gear teeth with the starter engaged. Meaning the gear on the starter motor is shoved into the gear teeth on the flexplate (automatic) or the flywheel (manual). The they take feeler gauges, I use a .003 feeler gauge, to make sure there is some space between the gear teeth so that the teeth do not bind or fuse to one another when the starter motor is running. They use spacers or shims that they sell in the HELP isle to space the starter motor to the engine block and this is turn adjusts the lash between the gear teeth. Had a buddy who had a 1969 Camaro drag racer that didn't know what I was talking about until his brother took it out to Mid-America Dragway and stripped all the teeth off of his ring gear in his rear end. Same thing can happen with a starter motor and the teeth on the flexplate or flywheel. It isn't that difficult to adjust and the feeler gauge is placed between the teeth aftter the starter bolts are torqued. Then they can add a shim or spacer to the starter motor if the feeler gauge doesn't slide beweeen the gear teeth. When dealing with a rear end or front end 4WD differential, leave that to a professional in the business like "Powertrain of Indianapolis". They'll do it right and give you a 6-month warranty on their work since they know what they are doing. Those feeler gauges are still sold to this day iin all of the auto parts stores and places like Meijer's department stores. Good Luck!