Help: Starter grinds after starting

[HeNry2kOoL]

I've just finished changing out the starter contacts for my starter and now that I've put everything back together, the starter grinds for a brief moment (around half a sec) right after it starts the engine. Pretty much right at the moment I let go of the key while starting it would grind. I'm just taking a guess but it feels like the gear on the starter that spins the flywheel isn't disengaging fast enough. When I was first putting the plunger back after installing the contacts, the plenum wouldn't fully go back in for some reason and it actually became stuck, I had to use pliers to pull it back out. After that i tried rotating the gear and it would spin both ways, and I could've sworn it could only spin one way before, and locking when rotating the other way. So now I'm wondering if I broke my starter and what I can do at this point. Changing the the contacts seems like an simple enough task to do, but somehow I still managed to screw it up. Unfortunately I only know enough to replace the contacts in the starter, so I don't know what to do now. A starter rebuild?

If I can, I'll try to record a sound of it. Maybe someone can better diagnose it that way.

[timebuilder]

It's been a while since I put contacts in a Denso starter, but I recall that there is a long, thin spring that must be in place to assist the solenoid in retracting from the contacts.

I'd take it back out and see if you can spot something that doesn't look right, paying attention to every part of the starter that you disturbed.

[HeNry2kOoL]

Yes, the spring that goes over the rod of the plunger was installed when I put everything back together. It was also retracting the plunger fine when tested it pushing the plunger to the contacts. I did notice there was something inside the hole where the rod of the plunger goes into that was blocking about half of the hole. Originally I just thought it was a goop of grease, but the plunger would to stop where that object is. After a few tries the plunger eventually went in smoothly.

What I'm wondering is.. is the the gear on the starter suppose to only spin one way when rotating it by hand? If it is, then something is wrong.

[HeNry2kOoL]

Here's the thread that I was basing my contact replacements on: http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t27312.html

The components inside starter in pictures are nearly identical.

[Doctor J]

There is a 1/4 inch (6 mm) ball at the small diameter end of the plunger (opposite to solenoid cover). Make sure it is not missing.

[timebuilder]

Right.

Never a good idea to have parts left over, particularly if they are on the floor, across the room, and you don't realize it. Doh!

[HeNry2kOoL]

Thanks for the quick replies. I did turn over the starter to blow out and wipe off some of the copper dust. If anything dropped out I think I would've noticed it, hopefully. And I think there was enough grease in there for the steel ball not to quickly roll out. The starter is off again and I think I'm going to try take off the entire solenoid housing to see if I can get a better look inside. Knowing me, I'm probably going to end up with a new starter.

[Doctor J]

If no parts are missing, the problem may sound similar to the one common among early 80s GM cars. When the clearance is too small between the flywheel teeth and starter pinion, the starter briefly grinds after start. But such problem is extremely rare on Toyotas due to flange type of starter mount. According to GM service manual," this complaint is described as "starter hang-in" or "solenoid is weak"(1981).

[HeNry2kOoL]

Problem fixed!

It turns out the steel ball was lodged between the magnets where the magnetic switch was. After putting the steel ball back to where it's supposed to be and the starter back together again, it started the engine right up better than ever... with no grind. Thanks again for all your replies.

[timebuilder]

In fact, the GM staarters were such a problem that several aftermarket companies began to manufacture shims for the starters, to move the pinion away from the teeth of the ring gear. After the initial brou-ha-ha, there was no similar problem coming into the shop. We would just re-use the shims we found when changing a starter, because the dimensional stability of the starters was much more predictable than the relationship of the starter mounting surface to the teeth of the driven gear.

Go here:

http://oregonstate.edu/~tongt/camry/

and find you car, click on "starting," and scroll down to page five to see the illustration of the steel ball being removed by a magnetic pickup. That's how you can prove to yourself (highly recommended) that it's still where it should be.

Review the parts and their correct assembly. The starter clutch you asked about may appear to turn both ways, but the important part is that the gear can turn easily one way without the shaft it's mounted on also turning, and when you turn it the other way, the shaft should turn with it. See page 8 of the same manual section. Performance tests are on page 14.

[timebuilder]

Well done. Download the manual I referenced for next time.