06 Tacoma Starter Spins But Doesnt catch HUGE UPDATE!!!!! I have another update....

OP, was the new flywheel a LUK by any chance??

 

This starter wasn't loose. The place that did that clutch did not write down the miles but it couldnt be much over an 18 month period. I'm guessing that it was a poorly built flywheel. The guy that described the sound of a bad flywheel being similar to that of trying to shift a manual trans into reverse without pushing in the clutch, was spot on. You know my story. I'm older than dirt and the last thing that guys my age ever worried about on cars was the flywheel failing. Son is getting a whole new clutch package and they are putting in a "LUK" flywheel. I cant find anything good or bad about them but they seem to be fairly well known.

 

Don't forget, many folks recommend replacing the flywheel bolts instead of re-using them.

 

The one they will be replacing? I dont know. I intend to ask if it was branded when we go to pick up the vehicle. I did try and call the place that did the last clutch replacement. Nobody answered and the mailbox was full.

 

Sorry to hear the news, but at least now you know. It sounds like the truck is well worth the money to install a new flywheel.

Best of luck to you.

 

Its his first truck. He worked hard and long for it. A life lesson. Thanks, everybody.

 

Get some kind of warranty on the job done this time.

 

My son picked the place. When we dropped the truck off they said 2 years or 24k. This warranty does not extend to another should the truck be sold. Even if we were able to get a hold of the place that did the last job, I'm sure they wouldn't be responsible. I get that though. Everything has limits. Just a bad break.

 

This is HUGE! Along with the flywheel replacement my son decided to have them install a DENSO rebuild starter. We got a call saying they got a bad starter and needed more time. The replacement starter failed as well! Sound familiar??? It appears they found that the battery cable to the starter has been "spliced together" at some point. That splice was causing a power drop to the starter ,causing the Bendix not to fully extend and that's what chewed up the flywheel. Who would have thuink it? I had said initially that It sounded to me that the Bendix was bad, and actually it was just not going out far enough to fully engage the teeth on the flywheel. They are replacing the cable and hopefully this will be the end of it.

 

OP ... thanks for sharing all this info. Out of curiosity (if you don't mind me asking) how much did it cost to replace the flywheel?

 

We didnt replace just the flywheel. They did a whole clutch and a starter. We dont have it back yet, so we dont have a bill. Help me understand what you are asking. The total cost for everything?

 

This doesn't fully make sense to me. The solenoid is not powered by the battery cable leading to the starter. If amperage to the starter is reduced by the battery cable, the starter would not turn as strong, if at all, but the solenoid would still be doing its job. It is powered by a different power connection, coming from the ignition, I believe.

 

You may be exactly correct. But whatever that connection is had been spliced. I was told this over the phone and I may not have understood all the details, but he did say we are waiting for another cable to be delivered. We havent gotten the truck back yet. They are closed for the weekend so I assume that we will get the full story when we pick it up on Monday.

 

Seriously? How does the motor manage to do that?

 

IDK but that is exactly what the mechanic we took my sons truck too said. That's an explanation for why/how flywheel teeth can wear prematurely which turned out not to be the case for us.

 

I've seen some pretty horrible electrical hack jobs done by some who have no business operating wire strippers. Twist the wire around it, it won't come loose. Rewire the entire lighting system using a bunch of 12" pieces twisted together, nothing worked. The consequences of something like that can cause issues like yours. If someone did a hack job splice into the starter/battery cable or the wire that kicks the solenoid out, I can see it chewing up your flywheel.

I see chewed up flywheels fairly often. Imagine a clock face as your flywheel, wear being less at 12 and 6, then more wear at 3 and 9 is what I'll see. This is often too much money to put into a vehicle due to what the vehicle is worth and the repair price.

Doing the clutch along with a new flywheel is a smart move. I'm pretty sure most places will also do the throw out bearing at the same time.

If you can, post up some pics of the old flywheel and hacked wires.

 

I will. I cant wait to see it myself. Why would either one of those wires even need to be repaired? How could something like that get damaged? Keep in mind. This truck is pristine, very well taken care of. Only 2PO's and I wouldnt but the engine and the engine bay is clean enough to eat off.

 

Dealerships will steam clean and armor all the engine so it looks like that. Its good and bad. Good because it looks nice and your hands don't get so dirty when you work on it. Bad because water can get in the electrical connectors and cause a multitude of problems. Any tiny leaks are no longer visable. They quickly become experts at the steam clening process. Steam clean, avoid spraying here and here, blow water out of here and here, don't start the engine, push it into the sun to dry for x amount of hours, take this apart, blow it dry, then start the engine if it starts. If not, give it to the mechanics to fix. So I won't steam clean a modern engine. If they insist, it's 6 labor hours plus parts. 1 hour to steam clean, 5 hours to figure out why it won't start.

 

Four stroke engine cycles = intake (pistons moving down) compression (pistons moving up) power (pistons moving down) exhaust (pistons moving up).
So basically it's because the cylinders rotate in pairs (almost, there's some offset, only an 8cyl really does this. 8cyl and four strokes means there's always 2 pistons in one of the four strokes). As the engine rotates 2 pistons are going up in compression, 2 are going down in intake, and 2 are in between. There's only resistance being built on compression. So when ignition is cut that's where the engine stops. Now in reality it's more complicated then that with cylinder overlap to balance the engine and have it run smoothly but that rough explanation should give you an idea why the three stopping points.

 

Interesting .... Makes sense though.TIL.