Starter grind

Hey guys, new to the forum i have a 2002 step side 5 speed manual v6 tacoma and im havig a bit of a starting issue. So two weeks ago i pulled my transmission and replaced the clutch, pressure plate, pilot and release bearings with an excedy clutch kit and replaced with an after market flywheel. Everything clutch wise was perfect. But the truck developed a grind when i went to start it, so i replaced the starter and the issue continued. The teeth on the flywheel had been stripped off along with the new starter. So i dropped my trans again and replaced the flywheel with the oem resurfaced flywheel along with another new starter and for the first 2 days all was good finally until a cold start where it was sitting for two days and the starter hit again... But it only hits when it is a cold start, the rest of the day after all is at operating temp she starts up and sounds great.... Any ideas ? Or any one have a similar experience ? Thanks !

 

Subbed. Mine does the same thing. Makes the noise as if you turned the key when the motor is already running. V6 Auto. Only does it when the motor is cold.

 

Weirdest thing ever, mabey i got a cheap starter...

 

Mine is an autozone starter from the previous owner. Could be a cheap starter problem.

 

Was there any flywheel shims and did you put them back in the proper place ?

 

No shims.. Im hopping its the solenoid in the starter i dont want to pull my transmission a third time this month

 

OK , I have had issues like this before .
What some guyz will do is use differential pattern dye so they can view how the starter meshes with the ring gear . I doubt the solenoid has anything to do with the gear contact . The starter bolts to the bell housing ....I am wondering about bell housing run-out .Was there a dowel pin holding the starter to the bellhousing ?
Were both your dowel pins between the engine block and bellhousing ?
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There are 2 dowel pins holding the trans to the block they arent related to the starter... There are two 14mm bolts holding the starter to the bell housing, and then the two electrical connections

 

The two dowel pins are related to the starter, amongst other things. The block and trans line up on the pins to clock everything in it's preferred place, including your starter pinion gear lining up to your flywheel ring gear properly. Since the starter is a bolt in place-preset shim setup,,it is critical to have those pins and have them line up like they should.

All the shouldered bolts around the housing and elsewhere went back where they came out?,,you didn't fudge a wayard bolt(s) somewhere out into another hole?. Had to ask,,because it probably would have been.

The new? starter bolts correct?,,absolutely sure?

Your re manned original flywheel,,are you sure it is yours? The machine shop specifically gave you back your original after the work? I put a mark on that stuff that goes in to get machined,,that only I know about. To make sure I get back the original stuff.

I'm with you OP, wouldn't want to pull that trans again either.

It's the typical hot-cold scenario you describe. Your gaining proper clearance when hot,,but it's tight and grinding when cold. All the original stuff is back in place, except for a machined flywheel and starter.

You could be on bad starter #3. It's not out of the question, and being seen more and more with remans,,sadly.

You might be able to loosen the starter bolts and try to rotate it outboard away from the flywheel,then whilst holding it there with your 3rd arm,,tighten the bolts again.

 

I went through the exact same problem you describe first. Had the clutch replaced by a garage. While in there, they had the flywheel replaced with non-OEM. Got the occasional starter grind. Finally found time to pull it and found that the non-OEM flywheel starter teeth sucked.

Here's a close up of the non-OEM flywheel starter teeth:


Compare that to a brand new TGP flywheel:


Besides the obvious chunking, the bevel on the non-OEM is short and steep and on the engagement side of the teeth. So the starter gear had more resistance in inserting and when it didn't fully insert, it'd catch on the bevel, making matters worse.

Given the second picture I'd compare to check that the flywheel you have installed is indeed TGP. I'd also recommend checking the flywheel starter teeth for any obvious signs of damage. Same goes for the starter gear.

Beyond that, I'd check to make sure the bell housing and the starter are fully seated to the engine/bell housing plate. There is no shimming process outlined in the FSM so I'm not sure how to go about measuring and installing them.

My grinding issue resolved with the new TGP flywheel but I still had the stock (TGP) starter.

Hope this helps in some way.

 

All the bolts went into the correct spots as i used marked cups for all of my bolts.. The dowels are both in the correct spots and all of the bell housing bolts are torqued to the factory spec, the flywheel is the correct oem flywheel as everything was original and i was the first person to drop the transmission.. And double checked the flywheel when i got it back from the machine shop... I am using a non oem after market reman starter.. Was thinking of going to toyota for the oe starter and go from there

 

Hey Codytrd, I have the exact same issue where I had a shop put in a Marlin Crawler clutch along with the Marlin flywheel; its been 3 weeks now and two different shops including a mechanic from Toyota cannot figure out the issue. I had the OEM starter rebuilt and all components checked for proper installation, but nothing seems out of the ordinary. Did you ever find the issue? I called Marlin and it looks like they have not received any complaints and they did send me the right parts.

 

I realize this is and old thread but I have the exact same issue with a Marlin Crawler complete kit. I ordered my kit in March of 2015 because I knew my clutch was going but it didn't get bad enough to replace until earlier this year. Did Marlin ever address this with you?