Could Grinding starter mean its bad???

could be the starter or the flywheel

Black331Stang said:

ok heres my problem...car cranks slow (while i was jumping it) no grinding, wen it was finally charged and spun normally it would grind to all hell. ok, heres a little background, starter bolt hole in bellhousing stripped out so starter was hanging a little and grinding. Mustang shop when they did clutch just put a bolt on other end starter is tight right now.

So question is, when a starter is bad could it cause realllllyy bad grinding/total missing?

Thanks for any help

Anthony

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Yes, and depending on how long this has been going on you may have damaged the flywheel as well.

Anthony, you and that darned car.
Bernie is right. something i would be concerned with is this:
while the starter was sitting "****-eyed" with the one bolt AWOL or not snug, and it was used, it could have damaged the ring gear (as Bernie eluded to), but much more likely (in my thinking) is that the Bendix got bent or chipped from engaging crooked.
it's a much smaller gear than the ring gear, so a flaw in it is seen/heard more often than in the ring gear.
my two cents worth. good luck

hey man, dont sell it. if it is in that good a shape (looks nice on your page), you dont want to ditch it for another car that has the same headaches and more. if the motor was neglected, so was everything else in all in all probability.

the ring gear is the set of teeth on the flywheel that the starter gear (the bendix) engages. it used to be that the bendix was always softer and gave out more quickly than the ring gear (easier to swap a bendix than a ring gear. kinda like dizzy gears being softer than the mating cam gear.). but the bendix is really small, so it needs to be hard to not wear out. i think the bendix shaft may have bent while trying to engage (while the starter was crooked).
some cars have removable ring gears (helped a friend do a clutch on an early sixties pick up and had him have it replaced. 30 bucks and they came to his house to do it. cool.
i would bet your ring gear is ok. (just my guess from the keyboard). i dont even know if these ring gears are replaceable. some are, some arent (generically speaking).

for starters, i think the way you do. i dont have money for PA alts, starter, etc. i will go with a parts store starter from a 93, as i believe these are smaller and handle heat soak better. i think it bolts right in.
but given all of your problems, a better quality one may be better. then again, if it fails, do you have to ship it off to be fixed? back to a parts store one with a lifetime warranty. if its not much more money, a new parts store one is likely better than a rebuild unit. and once you do it once, the next time is easy and fast. you know how it goes.

you lost me on the whole turn of events with the flywheel. did they turn the flywheel (resurface it) or did you install a new one? if they turned it, the hub has to be machined the same amount as the friction surface to retain proper geometry. a Blanchard grinder is the best way to do this. if the hub was not ground down too, that could cause some (other) problems (not related to this).

that's all i can think of, Anthony. dont give up on the stang (unless someone gives you an insane offer). the kinks will get worked out. when you do your motor, re-tap the bad starter hole or heli-coil it.
good luck, bud.

I like my alterstart starter and alternator. Cant beat his prices for brand new units.

if you want, ive got some bellhousings lying around that you could have.

ill be in long beach tomorrow night. Just let me know if ya want it. Its all cleaned up, but you may wanna paint it before you put it on. For some reason we painted it this god awful bright green. No idea what me or my friend were thinking of at the time.

i go by JT.
why dont people offer me free parts. LOL.
good luck. if not, a heli-coil would work. you get to R/R the trans again. fun fun.

the nut on the bolt thing is one of those things where you get in and see how bad it is. should not be harder than just accessing the bolts in the first place. i hate to admit, but i have gone to the drawer and found a bolt that is "bigger and would be tight" and threaded it in myself (read forced it in). crude, but it works. you may not even have an angle to do that. i try not to do that anymore.

im sure you will get it figured out (free bellhousing sounds )

You should be able to re tap the hole on your bellhousing. I think that once the starter is out, you shoul dhave plenty of room to work with. I mean, if you mess it up, big deal. Id tray re-tapping first as opposed to swapping bells. It may take you a half hour this way as opposed to removing the tranny and exhaust and everything else.