Starter grinding on start up!

Hey everyone, I’m having this problem with my starter. Every time I start my truck now the starter likes to grind and then after the truck has started sometimes it sounds like a bunch of rocks are in a tin can. Last time I did this last year cause I had a dead battery and then it happened again two weeks ago because the battery was also dead. so I changed the battery again and now it’s happening again two weeks later. I went to O’Reillys and they said my battery, alternator and my starter or powered correctly. Does anyone have ideas what it could be? Thank you!

 

Cracked flywheel/ring gear?

 

Not sure? It could be.

 

I had a bad replacement starter once. Thing would sheeeengg at the end and wouldn't release on time. As a result, it sheared the drive gear all the way around on the edges by about half an inch. Got a free replacement under warranty

 

It could be sticking and grinding the teeth. You'd need to remove the start and inspect the teeth and bench test the starter.

 

^^^ Agreed, the solenoid is possibly sticking, drop that starter and replace it. While I'd suggest OEM, this is one part you can get away with aftermarket, with the caveat it likely won't last as long. Fortunately the starter gear is softer material than the flywheel so in most cases you should be okay but continued use could potentially damage the flywheel.

I know it's redundant and most people know, but please disconnect the battery before removing the starter, there is a hot lead from the battery to the starter. (I've seen it happen.)

 

If the flex-late / flywheel teeth look of, throw a starter at it......
Starters can get f'ed up & start making grinding noises when engaging...

 

It's almost certainly your flywheel. I just replaced my clutch and flywheel last month after experiencing the same grinding issue you described. When I pulled the flywheel off, I noticed it was missing teeth, and some were severely worn down. After installing a new flywheel, the issue was completely gone, and startups sound much smoother now.

 

so the other day I went to go start my truck and it started grinding again and then it sounded like it just exploded. I pulled the starter and the pinion gear completely fell out of the starter and was all mangled up. so I put an AutoZone starter in and it’s still grinds on start up. I looked at the flex plate and the teeth weren’t really damaged that bad. They just had a little bit of wear on them. And I’m thinking about getting an OEM starter now. Will that fix my issue?

 

I'm going with probably not. An aftermarket starter is usually fine, 95% of the time, it's going to be something else.

With the starter out I'd put it in neutral and manually turn the motor while looking at the flywheel, check the teeth all around. (Mark it before starting so you know you've made a full revolution.) If any of the teeth are bunged up it's the flywheel as mentioned, the tranny has to come out and might as well do a clutch while you're at it.

That's a big job, so you definitely want to do that first to be sure. With a new starter motor it should be fine but there is a possibility it's something else. You could take the starter back to AutoZone and have them test it, it's possible it's one of the 5%.

It's possible (not likely) there is an issue with the power going to the solenoid. If the solenoid is not getting consistent key-on power, or if it's shorting out and holding it against the flywheel longer than it should, it could do this. If it were me I'd hope that's what it is, the other option is . . . "Every five minute project is one broken bolt away from a three day ordeal." Or in this case, one flywheel tooth. :-\