Starter issue?

[TJ Willy]

Originally Posted by TalonChief

Not at all. The starter clutch is a well known weakness in the mechanism. But, you'll have wait and see what yours looks like. I suspect there are alternative parts and/or part suppliers that can beat 5 bills.

Sent from my DROID RAZR

K. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Infidel!

If it's an 07 or later I don't think you need to remove the outer primary cover, though it probably is a good idea to check the ring gear. I remember just removing 2 allen bolts and the dang thing just fell out

which 2 allen bolts? To remove the starter or starter clutch? I am shooting in the dark here without my service manual.

Originally Posted by Scabbydoo

This sounds very much like mine when the starter clutch went south. And, mine reacted the same cold vs. hot. Not much noise when cold but much more obvious when hot and everything tighter. I replaced the whole starter with a high torque one from Eastern Performance and it came with a lifetime warranty on the starter clutch.

If I can do just the starter clutch, this would be better for me right now money wise. But I will look into those starters in case.

[TJ Willy]

Ok...

I tried to remove the starter and couldn't. I know... but I am without my manual since Dad still has it.

But I pulled the primary cover off and took some pics and a short video. I can't find anything that looks to me out of the ordinary. The compensator - with much effort - will move ever so slightly if I tug on it. The nut is tight. You can't really see it move in the video, but you can hear the stop points. There was about 1/4 a pencil erasers size of metal shavings on the plug. I could not find anything larger than the really fine stuff on the magnet.

The starter pinion gear looks normal. Some small scratches from 34k miles of engaging the ring gear. The ring gear itself looks great from what I could see. There seems to be normal slack in the chain. The picture makes it look worse than it is... The indentions on the pinion gear are intact. When I first looked at it, I thought chunks were missing until I saw it was machined that way.

So, do I have to remove that pinion gear to get the starter out? It looks like the assembly is held in place with a snap-ring? My procedure was to disconnect ground from batt, unplug various wires, remove two allen head screws, and I removed the chrome cover. The starters pulls out slightly but then won't budge. Am I just not wiggling and pulling enough? I even put a ratchet strap on it and tried to winch the thing out... don't tell anyone.

So maybe starter clutch?

Please look at the pics and video and tell me your diagnosis after seeing all the information I have collected.

Video coming next once it compiles and uploads.

[jasilva]

Phil, the issue with the compensator is the ramps wear and gall. This causes the banging noise at start up and eventually at low rpm. Pinion and ring gear look fine. Go to the link I posted above and you can see some pictures of the wear area on the compensator ramps.

[TJ Willy]

Originally Posted by jasilva

Phil, the issue with the compensator is the ramps wear and gall. This causes the banging noise at start up and eventually at low rpm. Pinion and ring gear look fine. Go to the link I posted above and you can see some pictures of the wear area on the compensator ramps.

I have done some reading but I would like to see the pics.

For the life of me, I can't find a link you have posted in this thread.

[TJ Willy]

And here is the video