Starter grinds
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Starter grinds
My dad has an F150. The starter grinds something terrible every once and a while. We have already replaced the starter once and it did not help. I am thinking it is the fly wheel. His truck is a 2000 F150 with the 4.6L auto. Thanks
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From: Lancaster, PA
Sounds like you are on the right track, however you also want to be certain that the bendix is kicking out the whole way. If it was rebuilt you are probably safe to assume that. It probably needs a flywheel ring.
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From: Lancaster, PA
is it auto or manual? first thing you do is pull the starter out and look in the hole and make sure there is a problem before you tear it apart.
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I had to replace my starter and after every once in a while it would make a grinding noise. Did this for about two months. Went to start it one day and all it did was grind. Ended up being the flywheel, there was a two inch section missing and the starter was shot. I had a warranty on the starter but it cost me $600 to get the flywheel replaced because it was 6 or 7 hours of labor. Good luck
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Search for 'starter grinding' ... lots of posts about it. I've seen several (including my own) where replacing the starter and / or the flywheel did not fix. Saw a couple where replacing the battery cables did fix it... gotta give mine a closer look.
Tom
Tom
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From: N. Mississippi
My 97 Lariat with the 4.6 auto did this when I first bought it in 01. It would grind on occasion.....at random...one time going over a year without doing it.
It wound up being the flywheel and cost me right at 400 bucks to have it replaced at the local Ford dealer.
It wound up being the flywheel and cost me right at 400 bucks to have it replaced at the local Ford dealer.
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Update, getting ready to go pull the starter and see if I have any teeth missing. Gonna pull all the plugs and turn the motor over by putting a wrench on the harmonic balancer. We will see if I have any teeth missing.
I was thinking and the starter has never ground when it has been sitting for a couple weeks and you start it. Its once the truck is somewhat warm then the grinding starts. Once the starter grinds then it does it the rest of the day.
I was thinking and the starter has never ground when it has been sitting for a couple weeks and you start it. Its once the truck is somewhat warm then the grinding starts. Once the starter grinds then it does it the rest of the day.
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From: Chicago Area
I have a 2001 F150 purchased new. It now has ~165,000 miles. Ever since I got it, it will grind upon starting intermittently. Sometimes it will go for months without grinding and sometimes it will happen repeatedly. When it was under warranty, I tried to get it corrected without success. I have never been able to discern a pattern but it does not seem to be getting any worse with time and miles.
I picture that the starter gear is hitting right on top of the ring gear and spinning without fully engaging. Don't know if that's the case, but I'm not going to mess with it unless I have to.
My reason for telling you this story is simply that you probably just want to fix your problem before it gets worse or leaves you stranded. But you might find that it never does.
I picture that the starter gear is hitting right on top of the ring gear and spinning without fully engaging. Don't know if that's the case, but I'm not going to mess with it unless I have to.
My reason for telling you this story is simply that you probably just want to fix your problem before it gets worse or leaves you stranded. But you might find that it never does.
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Well actually last week it got worse. We were at my work with a load of mulch in the bed. It started grinding. It hadnt ground on us all day. Well, no matter what we did we couldnt get it to engage. Luckily we had the tools in the bad of the truck cause we just got back from the junkyard. My dad got under the truck and turned the harmonic balancer over a little bit. Then the truck started. Never had to do that before. Usually on the third try it would start. Not this time. I think we might go ahead and replace the fly wheel.