Hi all,

my name is adam and i've owned an 85 rs frankenstein that i purchased from craigslist about 2 years ago. I love the car and drive it almost daily. It needs a paint job and some internal wiring fixes but runs great most of the time. I live in kansas and this year i've road tripped it to michigan and back as well as dallas and back.

Anyways, the other day i wake up to go do laundry (extremely cold day). I go to start my car and hear a super loud grinding sound. I open the hood and start again and see the fan move and hear the terrible grinding sound.

At this point i stop trying to turn over the ignition as i don't want to drain my battery and pretty much conclude im going to have to have it towed to the shop to check it out when i get some funds together.

I guess im hoping i could get some advice about the potential problem. I'd assume it is a starter / flywheel problem but when i was a kid we had a similar problem with a vehicle, and the sound was nowhere near as loud.

I don't have alot of money and not a whole lot of mechanical knowledge. I was hoping i could build some by working on this car in the summer time.

Appreciate any advice about the problem and cost-effective solutions.

 

Sounds like it might be the same as mine - there is a big bite taken out of the flexplate teeth, which happens to stop lined up with the starter every 20-30 starts.

Makes a god-awful grind sound once, then always starts fine on the second attempt.

 

i agree. Sounds like the flywheel is missing some teeth or if you are lucky then the starter is missing some teeth (but that isnt usually the case)

 

Thanks for the quick replies. The sound is so bad that i didn't really want to try multiple times to see if it works after a few shot.

Do you recommend i look for a flywheel online before taking it to the shop or just let them handle it? I feel like i've been significantly overcharged the last few times i took it to a local shop even though i've always taken my car to them.

Thanks Again.

 

Verify first - get it up on ramps/lift if you can, and remove the plastic inspection cover under the flexplate (assume this is an auto). See if you can see any damage to the teeth; you will have to rotate the engine a bit to see the full 360 degrees.

 

thank you for all of the great information

 

it has to be an auto, otherwise he'd roll it and pop the clutch to start it

pray it's the starter but expect the flexplate.

You are then into dropping the tranny and will need an impact wrench

Since you are there, a rear main seal may as well be replaced.

 

True, but pop starts get old pretty quick.

Mine has done it's 1 in 20-30 grindy start for 10 yrs now, hasn't got any worse. Teeth have not further deteriorated.

Haven't replaced my flexplate yet, due to it being extremely difficult for me to remove trans (or engine) in the space I've got. Waiting until the trans develops other problems before I have to pull it.

Addaminsane - might get lucky like I have, depends on the extent of the damage.

 

Update: my camaro is still down, but someone told me to manually turn the crank shaft and then try to start it. if it doesn't start then its not the flywheel they told me.

Anyways, i cranked it quarter turns and full turns and 3 turns with a vice grip and it is still grinding, although the grind sounds a tad bit different every time i turn the ignition...

Any advice on whether or not you think it still may be a flywheel problem? Thanks Again everyone.

 

Ok , well , since it grinds no matter where you set the crankshaft , that's a pretty good indicator that the starter's gear is gone , , , course , there ain't no guarentee that the flexplate's gear is OK till ya check it .

Disconnect the battery , , Take out the starter , , and while lookin into the place the starter is now missing from have one of your buddys turn the crankshaft while ya look at the gear , , , It's either got teeth or it don't ...

If the flexplate's gear teeth look ok , buy and install a new starter and hook up your battery for a test .

Dont forget to reinstall any shims ya might find under the starter ............

 

Have you done this yet? Take you 10 minutes.

 

i appreciate the advice all. I tried jacking up the car with a bottle jack last night outside in the darkd to try to get under and take out the starter and then the fluid squirted out of the jack lol ... but soon, im gonna get this problem solved.

 

Ah, no ramps. Get some, or drive it up on some suitably large blocks of wood or something similarly solid (NOT cinderblocks or bricks!). Or jack it up and use body stands, wood, wheels/rims etc.

DON'T get under it with just a jack, even one that's not leaking! Not worth risking your life over.

 

you turned the engine over by hand with vice grips??

 

i put the vice grips on a nut on the crank shaft and turned it. i was told to use a socket wrench with an extension, but i couldn't fit the socket onto it... It really wasn't hard at all to just turn it slowly

 

I have this same problem occasionally on my car. I know all my flywheel teeth are fine. It always works fine on the second start attempt. Not a big deal to me.

My personal feeling is that the starter is, as it torques against the flywheel, twisting slightly and going out of alignment with the flywheel teeth. This seizes it in place, and the grinding noise is internal to the starter.

I would make sure both the starter bolts aren't loose, and then I would consider replacing them with new bolts. The starter bolts locate the starter, and if one or both of them isn't just right I figure it's theoretially possible for it to slightly go out of alignment sometimes.