I have a 91 pickup, 22re, 2wd auto.

When I turn the key I hear the starter spin but it does not sound like it is coming in contact with the flywheel. All I hear is the starter spinning.

I replaced the starter with a reman. All of my grounds are good. Battery is a brand new Bosch. I'm all out of ideas. Since it is an automatic I don't think I have a starter relay. For ˟˟˟˟s and giggles I'm thinking about swapping in a spare ECU that I have lying around from when I was troubleshooting the injector problems. I'm hoping it's not an electrical issue because I had a pain in the ass time redoing all of the factory spices on the injectors last year and don't feel like tracing wires again unless I have to.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

If the starter is not engaging the ring gear swapping the ecu will not do anything. the starter is likely not the right one for the truck or you have a broken tooth on the ring gear.

 

The old starter physically matched the new one perfectly. The post was the exact same size and in the same position. So was the solenoid wire connector. I was afraid you were going to say that the ring gear had a tooth missing. Is there any way to advance the ring gear so I can see if that at least will get it started?

 

Agree. Solenoid plunger obviously actuates as evidenced by spinning starter motor.

Try turning the flywheel by using the crank shaft a little bit at a time, then try starting. If it fires at different position of crank shaft, most likely missing teeth. OR you may have to remove starter and inspect the entire ring gear.

 

Also a good chance that the bendix just isn't kicking out. Agree with the suggestion to turn the engine a little bit to make sure you'll be engaging some teeth on the flywheel or ring gear. Or you could pull the starter and inspect the teeth.

Sometimes you can tap on your key switch a little (quick start-release-start-release-start) and get the bendix to move. Those helical threads can get gummed up with heavy grease and dirt and whatever else.

 

my 4runner did the same thing and couldn't figure it out till we pulled the flexplate cover and found that the flexplate broke off from the mounting ring