every once in a while not every time i start my car i get a grinding sound and it wont start.it sounds like if you have ever accidently tried to start your car after it is started.i think its the starter but im not sure.does anyone know if thats what it is and if so about how much it will cost to get replaced?thanks for all your help.

 

yeah, it sounds like your starter is starting to go. I am not sure of the price but if you get it at a parts store you will pay for the price of the starter plus the core charge until you bring your old starter back. It will probably be an upfront cost of around $100. They are easy to change.

 

can you help me out with how to do it.i know this a stupid question but i have only had the car for a week.i can do basic maintience on cars.tune up,replaceing alternators.gaskets that kind of stuff but i am not familiar with this car yet.i would appreciate any help i can get.thanks again.

 

un hook the hot wire (+12V) wire that hooks to a spade connection. un hook the ground wire, which is usually on a post with a nut holding it down. Then take out the two bolts. Once you do this pull the starter out and put the new one in. Its very straight foward. Hope this helps.

-Carson

 

Open your hood, and look at the engine. You'll notice the transmission is locaed on the driver's side...

Now, look under the front bumper, between the driver's side headlight and the grill. You will see where the engine and the trans join together. There is the starter. I has a small wiring harness attached to it, and two bolts hold it to the engine...that's it.

If you have the new starter available, you can swap out the starters in about 5-10 minutes, tops...this is actually the easiest part on the car to replace...

 

thanks for the help i will let you know how i make out and if this solves my problem

 

don't forget to disconnect the battery first... unless you like fireworks.

it sounds like the bendix drive might not be throwing the starter gear far enough to meet the flywheel. either that or the starter gear is stripped. if you can replace an alternator, you can replace a starter. it's actually easier to do the starter cos you don't have any belts and tensioners to mess with. if you go to put the new one in and it doesn't quite line up, try turning the teeth on the starter gear a little. (they'll actually turn only in one direction.) do that until they mesh with the flywheel.

the shop might be able to bench-test your old starter for you, and it may very well work off the vehicle, but don't let that fool you. when it's bench tested off the car, the starter doesn't have the load of the engine to crank. if a starter doesn't work when it's bolted onto the vehicle, it's bad.

Dan

 

or once you have pulled it out just hook up jumper cables to the battery, and touch the + to the positive lead on the starter and see if it spins freely....please be careful if you do this, but its a way you can check yourself

 

well i replaced my starter without a problem.the only small glitch that i had was getting the 1 bolt loose but once i got it loose it took like 20 min to replace.i thought that was going to end my problem because it worked great,BUT after i took it to wal-mart to get some things and when i came out and went to start my car it did it again.the same grindind sound.as soon as i heard it i stopped turnning the key.2 sec.later i tried it again and it started no problem.so now i am really confused on what it could be.anyone have any ideas on what elese it could be?

 

hmm..... broken teeth on the flywheel is the next thing that comes to mind.

sorry man.

 

well either that or you got a bad starter from the store. it's entirely possible. I bought a starter cos mine went bad, and the one I bought died 3 weeks later. you take a pot luck chance with remanufactured parts. I've disassembled some remanufactured alternators and I was surprised with the sh*tty quality..... they didn't even replace the brushes, just left the old ones in there. I've also seen cracked brush holders, melted wires... from parts right off the shelf and never sold in the parts store I work in. it's absolutely pathetic. but most of these parts get shipped to cuba or some other country to be rebuilt. that's the chance you take.

what you can do is get a helper, a 1/2" drive ratchet, and a socket big enough to fit over the crankshaft pulley nut. unbolt and take off the starter and look at the teeth on the big gear inside the hole -- that's the flywheel. put the transmission in neutral and set the parking brake, otherwise the car will move. have someone turn the crankshaft clockwise (the whole engine will turn) while you watch the flywheel for broken teeth. this is actually much easier if you pull the spark plugs out cos of engine compression. but you'll see the flywheel turn and if there are any broken teeth, you have problems. if there are no broken teeth, I'd get another starter and try that.

well that's what I'd do... this way you know for sure if your flywheel is ok. if that's the case, breathe a sigh of relief. then the problem is minor. but that's the only way I can think of to check the flywheel... maybe there's an easier way that I can't think of.

Dan

 

if thats the case and the flywheels teeth are bad what kind of money am i looking at dropping?my car is an 87 but it has just under 76000 miles on it i bought it from an old ladie and the car is in great shape so i would hate for something like this to go on me

 

Hey, I have the same problem with my maxima. It was not the starter that was wrong. The thing that was bad was my flywheel. It made the same sound you described. I paid about $80 for my new flywheel. The only place I found a new flywheel was at adavance autoparts. Go to there website and find out. I dont know how much it would cost to put it in. I am doing it myself since i have to take out my transmission. If you would do it yourself it costs you $80 and some time. If it was taken to a mechanic it would cost a whole lot maybe around $400. Good luck and keep updating like to know what happened.

 

my car does this too i allways assumed it was something to do with the tranny never even considered the starter. With my 87 auto, i just drop it down to neutral and back to park and it usually fixes itself, i thought i was going to have to rebuilt the tranny.Keep us updated on the solution.

 

This happened to my 87, I had the teeth sharpened and it went away for a few months, then came back. I just said screw it and decided to deal with the embarassment of scaring the hell out of people walking by when I try to start my car. I kind of adapted to turning the key a certain way so it wouldnt grind.

Oddly, after a couple months the problem just went away. Its been like 6+ months since its last done that without me doing anything to remedy the problem.

 

Maybe your starter solenoid might be causing trouble as well?

Edit in: As I work in an AutoZOne, I forgot to mention that sometimes starters ARE bad from the store. I've had that happen to people more than once... the worst happened to a Dynasty... the starter stuck out and was hitting the flywheel all the time. DO NOT BUY THE VALUCRAFT ONES! Garbage out of the box. Trust me.