Starter grind

So I had a horrible grinding noise on my starter.. Replaced the ring gear on the flywheel (was horribly chewed up) and the grinding is still there. Do I need to change out the teeth on the starter? Where can I find parts for these old starters?

 

Tried Ebay?
jeep starter drive | eBay

 

How was the flywheel change? Did you drop the engine?

 

Dropped the transmission when I did the clutch job

Took the ring gear and the flywheel to a machine shop.. So it was pretty easy

 

I think I found a gear that I work, any good instructions out there to replace?

 

Generally if the ring gear is chewed up there is a reason. Usually the starter drive since that's what engages the ring gear. So yes, the starter drive gear needs a very close inspection and a good chance it needs replaced.

 

Thanks again, I'll probably just drop it off to the local starter place

 

I recommend having the starter rebuilt. I tried to replace the drive gear on mine and it was tough. Eventually I couldn't get the brushes back on and a wire snapped and I gave up and bought an aftermarket starter.

 

The starter was recently rebuilt, although I am not sure if they touched the drive gear itself.. Or maybe they did and the bad ring gear fried the drive..

 

You can order the Bendix (pinion gear assembly) separate from the starter, if the starter is still good and you want to do the job cheaply. That is what I did. However, as I pointed out in another (unrelated) topic in here, the demise of my rebuilt starter was an aftermarket ignition switch. It had a weak return spring in the switch and let the contacts hang up between "RUN" and "START" and kept the starter engaged with the ring gear for about 15 minutes of driving. Given the gear ratio between the ring gear and the starter pinion, I am sure the starter was spinning near 10K rpm when the engine was revved up for gear shifting. The results are pictured below. Just make sure your ignition switch is working correctly, too.

 

I've run into grinding noise occasionally on Chevy Big/Small block and it's often due to the starter gear being too tight to the flywheel or flexplate gear, you can buy shims to insert between the starter and block, not sure if this may be an issue with the Jeeps or not.

 

Good to know!

 

The F-head starter bolts straight in so you have no provision to shim the bendix out away from the ring-gear. The other starters that bolt to the under side of the engine can be shimmed down and away from the ring-gear. Think about the Toyota starter for the F-head.

 

Bought a new drive, but it looks to be almost the same condition as my old one.. they must have changed it when it was rebuilt.




there are some metal shavings around the drive though.

Any other ideas?

 

Other ideas?

Number of teeth on the ring gear must be compatible with the starter, as I understand it.
I've heard of cases where a flywheel from a flathead or other varient has been swapped in, and may cause weirdness. But I'm no expert on this, so try search.

 

124 on the ring gear.. 9 teeth on the drive.