starter/flywheel question

[trkosaur]

hey guys! have an issue i need some advice on.

about two months ago, i had my transmission rebuilt. everything went really well with that, but about a week after i noticed a screeching sound on startup. it was brief and started up fine after that. everything was normal for a while, so, being lazy, i left it alone. then one cold morning, lots of screeching and no starting.

i go underneath and noticed the brace on the back of the starter had not been reattached from the transmission job. i attached the brace, but the damage had been done. i pulled the starter to check things out.

i expected the starter to be shredded, but the gear actually looks fine. however, the flywheel has about 10 gears that the front half are ground down.

i was hoping to get lucky and just replace the starter, but i am guessing that the flywheel is finished.

so here are my questions:

is the flywheel done?

is it reasonable to make the transmission guy at least do the labor on the job?

should i go ahead and replace the starter? i.e. is it possible that the starter wasn't fully engaging the flywheel, or was the brace probably the culprit?
( my concern was that only the front half of the flywheel gears had been ground down. it appeared that the starter might not have fully engaged on the flywheel gear, but i don't know what it should look like)

lastly, i plan on replacing the bolts etc on the starter reinstall. but if i buy a gear reduction starter, can someone explain the process of how to go about testing to see if i need a shim or not?

thanks for the help guys. i need my truck back and just trying to figure that best way to proceed from here.

thanks
chance

 

[Matt65]

I would ask the transmission builder what they plan on doing, since it should be their dollar funding the repair!

 

[justinwregier]

trkosaur

I have experienced this same scenario with my M1009. Screaching, long cranking before start up is the gears; either on the starter or the flywheel, with broken or missing teeth. I replaced my starter the first time then the second time around the flywheel and another starter. The 2nd starter really was the 1st under warranty but I would recommend replacing all the worn components you find. Even a gear alignment being off can cause wear that will lead you under the truck all over again. I cant tell you in words how the starter gears should look but maybe some one has a photo or measurements on site?

Overall I havent had an issue with startup since the last repair involving the flywheel & starter, regardless of weather. Prior to that repair is was new glow plugs and a relay.

Good Luck

 

[Warthog]

You might try talking to the repairshop for help on replacing the flywheel. But you did wait after hearing the noise the first time. They may not work with you.

The testing for shimming of the starter is covered in the Technical Manuals. If you didn't download them before the oldsite was taken offline you will have to find them elsewhere.

They are still available on the Mlitaries LOGSA website. Or on epay, or other websites.

What ever starter you install, please reinstall the correct support bracket. The starters are heavy and need that bracket.

 

[trkosaur]

thanks for the input. i do have the manuals and will go through them to double check the starter placement. i also have the part numbers for the starter bolts and the new brace, if i go with a new gear reduction starter.

i'll talk to the transmission guy tomorrow and see what he has to say. i went with a one man show for the transmission work. he did a great job on the rebuild, but i hope that decision doesn't bite me on the flywheel. i do feel a bit of responsibility for waiting once i heard the screech, but he still missed the brace on the starter. i will aim high, but feel that paying for parts is probably fair if he will do the labor. i honestly didn't know that the flywheel would get eaten up so easily.

i guess once you pull the tranny to get to the flywheel the metal flakes should be easy to clean up, right? is there any reason to change my oil before i run the engine any more? can those metal flakes get in my oil?

thanks again, i'll try to post with results.

 

[trkosaur]

alright, so here is what's going on.

i talked to the transmission guy. he says that he wouldn't have taken the starter out when pulling the transmission and has no responsibility for the starter brace not being attached. however, he did agree that he should have inspected the flywheel to check for any issues while the trans was out.

when i found the brace was off and reattached the starter brace , it was down, facing the ground, and super tight. i actually had to loosen the bolt a tad just to move the brace up to the position it was supposed to be in. so i don't feel there is any way that the bolt fell out and the brace was just hanging there. however, i guess the starter could have started to fail and was not fully engaging the flywheel.

would it be possible that the brace had not been attached for two years of daily driving and allow the starter to work fine?

or would a starter with no brace attached start eating flywheel teeth fairly quickly?

i still feel that the brace not being attached was the issue. all of this started a week or two after getting the trans rebuilt and gradually got worse.

i am not really sure how to approach things from here. the trans rebuilder and i essentially believe two different things. he feels that the parts were already failing and/or failed on their own and states he didn't remove the starter or the brace. however, i know he had one of his guys remove/install the transmission and can't say 100% that the starter or brace were not removed.

at this point, he said if i bring a new starter and flywheel he'll do the work for $200. i guess that is meeting me in the middle, but still leaves me out another $400 or so. does this sound reasonable?

i am guessing that you can, but is it normal to remove the transmission and not touch the starter?