Hello all! Love this forum I have already gotten a lot of great info on here! So I have a 2017 F250 Lariat diesel. 11k in miles. Once a month or maybe a little longer when I push the start button the truck makes a grinding sound and does not start. It kind of sounds like when you try to start a car again when it was already running. After the noise stops I press the starter button again and it starts just fine. Do I have a starter issue? Is this normal? This is the first diesel I have ever owned. Is this something that I need to press at the dealer while it is still under warrantee? Thanks in advance for the info!

 

Yes, have the dealer address it. The problem is going to be reproducing the issue. Often, they won't work on an issue if they can't reproduce it. If the flywheel or the starter are damaged they could find that damage by opening things up. But, they aren't likely to do that unless they experience the failure to start in person.

 

This is one of those things where you have to actually hear it since describing a noise doesn't translate well over the distance of the internet. By the description it seems like the starter gear isn't driving into the flywheel gear. This could be caused by a bad starter Bendix (the sliding gear on the starter shaft).

You'll probably get no love from the dealer if they can't duplicate the problem. If they were interested in investigating the problem, they'd pull the starter and look for evidence of the starter gear grinding on the flywheel. It certainly won't hurt to run it by the service department to see what they say.

 

I've had this happen once so far on my 2019 6.7 with about 2000 miles. If you do a search here for starter grinding, you'll see it's somewhat common, unfortunately. As stated above, good luck getting it to happen while the service tech is watching.

 

It happen on mine .I took it to different dealers and they can't duplicated so no fix.

 

I have this happen on my 18' F350 about once every 5-6 weeks & I have just shy of 12K miles on the truck. Glad to hear that I'm not the only one!

My recommendation: Get it on paper at your local dealer that there is an issue. I had my dealer "try" to duplicate the issue (even though I knew they couldn't or probably wouldn't) and got it on paper that I was reporting a problem.

Last year I went through a Lemon Lawsuit with Dodge/RAM on a 1500. The buyback was based upon when I first reported the problem at around 10k miles. The check/$$ I received was my full purchase price (Tax and Lic included) Minus about $4k in depreciation. I put 95k miles on that truck over 4 years and only lost $4k. not too shabby. BUT, it was all based upon when I first reported the problem to the dealer (even though I experienced the problem around 5k miles - it was a transmission problem, but not severe). At my first service, I asked the dealer to take a look & that is where the paper trail began.

Although I hope I don't have to go through a lemon lawsuit with the F350, It's nice to cover your booty. The problem has with the starter not engaging properly has not become a major issue for me and it has not happened more than once every 5-6 weeks...ever. It's very rare for me. I start my truck 20-30 times per day (I own a service company and make a ton of stops every day) and still hardly ever have the happen. My dad has a 17 F350 & has never had it happen. Very odd, but just have your dealer take a look, even if they can't replicate the problem!!

 

 

Wow. I just had this happen yesterday on my 17 with 9500 miles. I pushed the start button and there was a delay because of the cold. In the process I heard that awful grinding sound and thought my foot came off the brake while in the middle of trying to start. It didn't start, so I firmly put my foot on the brake and it started right up. Glad to hear others with this, but a tough one to have diagnosed I'm sure.