Duffdog

sparks89,

It seems as though the new flexplate you installed is slightly larger than the factory unit. This would cause the teeth on the starter to not slide back because the flexplate is holding the starter there. If there was a way to sort of round off the teeth on the starter (or spin the engine, stick a file in the starter hole and file down the flexplate to make it slightly smaller) it might help a bit. The other thing I was thinking was just simply putting some white silicon grease on the starter to make it pop back easier.

just a thought.

Also, thanks for the heads up about your aftermarket flexplate. I am definitely not getting one of those.

SPARKS89

iTrader: (1)

The one that I put on last year was a Federated Auto Parts Brute Force. I don't know if it's the problem or not. What you're saying makes sense and it goes along with my theory. I'll find out next week if I'm right or not.

SPARKS89

iTrader: (1)

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.........after 2 months, 2 deer hits and 5 replacement starters it's fixed.

It looks like it was the flywheel. I ordered a new one from LowRangeOffRoad in mid December and it FINALLY got here a couple days ago (UPS was having some serious holiday shipping issues). I installed it this afternoon and got everything put back together and it fired right up. The truck is running strong and hasn't had a starting issue yet. I've started it 5 times and done some driving and everything is doing great! The teeth on the replacement flywheel are cut differently than the teeth on the flywheel I had in it. I couldn't see any cracks or damage of any kind on the old flywheel, but apparently something was wrong with it.

So here I am with a new flywheel, new starter, PAIR and EGR delete, new exhaust manifold gasket, replacement steering gear box, new grille, new bumper, new turn signals, new core support, new front bumper valance, new Marlin Crawler shifter seats and grommet for transmission and transfer case, fresh coolant.......I think that's it. Fellas....I'm tired. I don't want to work on the truck anymore for a while. I've done enough on it in the past couple months. I'm not doing anything else to it until this spring. Then it's on to the front end of the motor.

Gevo

Congrats.
It wasn't vodoo, phew

JohnnyCanuck

That must feel good, gj chasing it down.

SPARKS89

iTrader: (1)

I was starting to think it was. I guess I can toss out all those chicken bones I've been saving.

SPARKS89

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Canuck! And thanks for the info on your headlights too. One day I'll be purchasing a set of my own!

SPARKS89

iTrader: (1)

I'm back again with the same problem. The truck worked great for about a month and a half, but then one day it started with the same problem all over again. Here's an overview:


hit a deer back in November.


while the truck was down for repairs the original starter went poop.


replaced the starter with one from Advance and that worked twice.


replaced that starter with one from Napa and that worked maybe 5-6 times.


tried a junkyard starter and had the same results.


Pulled the transmission and decided it would be best to replace the flywheel....everything seemed to be leading to a problem with that.


got a flywheel from Low Range Offroad and a starter from Toyota. That combination worked great for a while. Now I'm back to the same problem


The starter is fully engaging the flywheel. I've measured distances from mounting surfaces and such and I've also borrowed a cable camera from work and used that thru the clutch fork hole on the bellhousing to watch it. The bendix will engage the teeth on the flywheel, but won't turn the flywheel and won't retract back off the teeth. You have to turn the crank by hand in order for the bendix to release. The starter has been tested and came back fine. I noticed the teeth on the bendix and flywheel were VERY tight against each other and my thought was that the friction between the two was causing it to jam up so I ground the bendix teeth down very lightly with my dremel just to smooth the metal some.


I'm at a complete loss. I'm ready to either pull the transmission again, sell it or push it off a cliff. I want to sell the truck either way. I bought a 2010 Corolla a couple months ago so the truck barely gets used anymore, but if I fix the starting issue I can sell it for more than a couple hundred bucks! Trucks that start always bring more money.

Gevo

I'm surprised that this came back in such a similar manner. All I can think of now is that the entire body of the transmission and/or engine has tweaked ever so slightly and it's causing the fine alignment issue. No solution for that... Probably selling for parts is your best option if you decide to sell it. But it's work, and I get lazy when I decide to get rid of something.

SPARKS89

iTrader: (1)

Haha, thanks. I am ready to sell the truck, but I want to fix it before I sell because I just don't feel good selling to someone and knowing t!here's a problem. If I fix it then I can get more money for it also. I just talked to a guy down the road (that I just met tonight, actually) and he gave me a bell housing off an old transmission to try! He also has an actual shop with a lift and he said if I can get the truck down there we can put it up on the lift, pull the transmission and get to work on it. He worked for Toyota for 5 years and even though he said he's never heard of this problem he's happy to help. AND HE SAID HE WON'T EVEN CHARGE ME FOR IT!! So in a couple weeks when he gets back from vacation I'm going to get it down there so we can work on it. It's nice meeting good people!