Starter or Fly Wheel Ring Gear

[xJohnnyOx]

OK,

2000 E.B. with 5.4l. I bought it in Oct 2013.

About once a month, the starter will do the screech thing. It always engages on the second try. The battery is new and the terminals at all electrical connections are clean.

I am interested in opinions on if it is a bad starter or some chipped teeth on the ring gear. I pulled a starter off another twin to mine at the junk yard, so I have that ready to go if needed.

Has anyone every changed the flywheel in a first gen expy? I haven't seen any posts and I have not seen any Youtube vid's either. If so, how hard a job is it?

Thank you,

John

 

[tonydiv]

If it's that infrequent, I have to go with flywheel damage.

 

[jprix82]

If you do decide to swap starters, maybe you could have somebody turn the engine with the crank bolt while you check out the flywheel teeth?

I never changed a starter on these trucks so idk if you would have a clear view or not though.

 

[stamp11127]

You have to drop the trans in order to change the flex plate/ring gear. Major pain for those that haven't done one. You will also need a level area and trans jack. Can be somewhat dangerous for the weekend mechanics due to the weight of the unit.

Check the condition of the teeth on your current starter, the drive mechanism may be on its way out.

 

[xJohnnyOx]

Thank you for the comments.

Step 1 will be swapping the salvaged starter in and trying to look at the ring gear (while using the crank bolt to turn the motor). It'll have to wait until it gets a little warmer out though. Right now its in the low teens for the highs.

John

 

[RevHeat]

Any updates? I have the same issue. I replaced the starter due to it going out and it still makes the horrible noise about once in 15 starts. I truly belive it is the flywheel missing a tooth; however, I am still in hopes of another fix. My expo has 293,500 miles.

 

[xJohnnyOx]

Any updates? I have the same issue. I replaced the starter due to it going out and it still makes the horrible noise about once in 15 starts. I truly belive it is the flywheel missing a tooth; however, I am still in hopes of another fix. My expo has 293,500 miles.

No update yet. Given that odds are its the ring gear on the flex plate, i will just live with it until it gets worse. I am thinking about carrying a socket and long handle breaker bar to turn the engine over a little so that I won't get stuck out in the back country.

 

[RevHeat]

No update yet. Given that odds are its the ring gear on the flex plate, i will just live with it until it gets worse. I am thinking about carrying a socket and long handle breaker bar to turn the engine over a little so that I won't get stuck out in the back country.

Thanks for the reply. I am in the same boat. Interesting that some people were having this issue even with low miles. I even read in one thread that when one guy hears the noise, he puts the car in natural then back to park an it seems to not happen again. Oh well!

Rev