starter grinding after flywheel replaced.

[jaimej73]

Guys, I just replaced my flywheel (yes, and clutch), due to my starter grinding the teeth down. I put the starter back in, it probably had 10/12 cranks on it before the replacement of the flywheel.
I started it, still sounds rough and grinding a little.
Any ideas? Is this a power to the starter issue now? Before, I couldn't even get the "lucky" crank, now it's just a grind.
Pretty frustrating after all the work of replacing the flywheel.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
85 Jeep CJ7 .

 

[Torxhead]

Sounds like a meshing problem between the gears of the flywheel and the starter. what shape are the starter gears in?

 

[gutthans]

Remove the starter and check to see that it 'throws' the gear out to the stop collar. Measure the distance from the starter mounting flange surface to the center of the gear at full throw. Measure the distance from the outside mounting surface of the bell to the center of the flywheel teeth...these two measurements should be close to the same.

You can shim the mounting point or add a bushing to the starter shaft to reduce the travel of the gear if the throw is too far. However, if it's too short, you're stuck because you can't lengthen the total throw. You will need to change starter or flywheel out.

There are at least two different distances for flywheel ring gear position used by Jeep, and thus at least two different throws for the starters.

If the gear is striking the flywheel as it throws out before engaging, then you may have a worn bolt or ovalled-out hole that is shifting the starter body too close to the ring gear. There are different size (slightly smaller) starter gears (seen 2 of them) that can be swapped on to the shaft that could correct this too.

Do you have the part number that was cast into the flywheel you are running? If so you can look up the starter numbers that interchange. Good luck, I ran into this when I built my last project 10 years ago...took me two weeks to get it figured.

 

[Hedgehog]

I know this is a little late, but why did you replace the whole flywheel when you could have simply replaced the ring gear on the old fly wheel? It is simple to do with a little heat and a hammer.

Grinding starter ..... I'd pull the starter ..... wait, the starter ruined your first ring gear, then it was reinstalled on a new gear ..... ?????? ..... it sounds like your starter wasn't fully engaging the old ring and ground it to death ..... they aren't all that expensive, are easy to get and easy to install, get a new starter.