jaeravenal

Hey yall long time no log in because I forgot my password to this website, then the password to my email that I used to sign up and that the password reset emailed to -_-.

(LONG STORY SHORT SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN)

awhile back I was trying to find an alternative filling point for gear oil; and i remember scouring a forum and someone said "the little thing with 2 10mm bolts attatched to it"

So i found the 2 10mm bolts, unhooked the dadoozle, and removed it; and I saw the flywheel; and then I said hmm; I don't think gear oil goes in here, figured it was the starter.

So I put it back together; and I must have shorted / connected the wires wrong because the starter solenoid was whining as if the gear was turning and it started to smoke up and it drained my battery (i kept foolishly trying to connect and reconnect the negative terminal on the battery, and it kept doing the same thing WRRRRRR, smoke)

I figured out the correct wiring; but now the car wouldn't start, the solenoid would just spin, but it would not engage the flywheel.

Immediately ordered a new starter solenoid, installed; same thing happened.
AND THEN I REALIZED I WAS PUTTING the little lever thing that pushes out the bendix gear or whatever incorrectly;

So with the new solenoid, I installed everything correctly
and AMAZING
the car started; but this time when it started
it cranked a little slower but harder like CHUG .. CHUG.. CHUG.. BOOM
and after the crank, like right when the car starts up I noticed I would hear a Grinding sound. It's a fairly short grinding sound, like imagine a normal car starting but right when it starts it would grind for like 1-2 seconds after it started

I didn't really mind it since I was glad to be able to drive my car, but then realized that's the starter grinding against the flywheel 0_0
Drove like that for a good month or two, I figured out a way to start it without grinding; I'd have to start the car by turning the key and immediately backing off and hoping I held the key long enough to start; sometimes this took 4-5 attempts, and this started to kill my battery from all that cranking

It started to bug me so I figured I'd try the old starter solenoid out.
I put the old solenoid on; and started it up and it starts up "weaker" compared to the new solenoid like a softer chug chug chug BOOM, but then there is no grinding sound! Happy with the results, I left it like this.

The next morning upon going to work, I tried starting the car and all I got was a CLICK, I noticed I left one of the interior lights on, and assumed it was the battery; had no time; so I got a ride to work.

Came home, charged the battery a little bit; cleaned all the terminals made sure everything was tight
still got a CLICK,
no cranking; but then the 2nd time was magic,
eventually it started and I drove it around to some stores; first store turned off the engine I was good gone for about an hour.
Car started up just fine, quiet and hush chugging and no grinding.

Went to the mall, trying to buy a damn lab coat for class; for about an hour
come back

and

CLICK
CLICK
CLICK
one click
every time I tried to start. Did this for a good 15 tries.
Checked the battery voltage 12.6
eventually 12.5 from all the clicking

figured I'd try to do the screw driver trick; I took a screw driver and hit the positive and negative terminals of the solenoid (I couldn't touch the ignition switch post because I put electrical tape to keep it real snug, it had problems of the connector falling loose)

screwdriver + negative + positive of the solenoid and I made the starter motor whine about 4 times shortly , sparks and everything, but i couldn't get it to crank because I believe I wasn't touching the ignition switch post.

After this I immediately ran to start the car and it started, had to go to another store so I left it running while I was in the store; drove it home
parked it in the garage
and made dinner
going to put the new solenoid back on for starting's sake as I got school and work and I'd rather have a car that starts and grinds the flywheel, than a car that might not even start!

I've read that a weak battery/power to the solenoid or a failing starter can cause the starter bendix to disengage slowly therefore grinding the flywheel on it's way snapping back, is this the phenomenom i'm experiencing with the new solenoid?


My main questions:

Why does the new solenoid grind the starter, while the old solenoid doesn't grind (the power in cranking is definitely noticeable)

Will I need to shim the starter (heard this was mainly done on GM starters)?

Will I need to replace the whole starter/ is my starter failing and not keeping up with the new solenoid?

How long can my car run with grinding the flywheel? I inspected the flywheel and its about 1-2 mm grinded off in a certain area there's still plenty of meat left (the flywheel initially had grind marks before all of this happened, though not as deep as currently)

could my battery be weak with combination of the new solenoid? 12.6 volts resting; 13.9 volts with the car warmed up and running, seen the battery dip down to 12.2 volts or even 11.53 when the car lights were left on for 3 days; was completely dead about 4 months ago.

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I want my Z to be able to start without grinding and without a 50% chance of actually starting :/



LONG STORY SHORT

NEW SOLENOID: Cranks powerfully, but grinds the flywheel right after the car turns over (1-2 seconds of grinding) like a Crrrrrch sound not like a crrrrrrrrrrrr
Can avoid grinding by turning key to crank, but immediately stop turning the key and hopefully crank the car enough to turn over, but not long enough to grind

OLD SOLENOID: Cranks softly, but does not grind the flywheel, sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, has been giving me a ONE CLICK problem. Using a screw driver to touch the negative and positive post to make the gear spin on the solenoid, and then starting the car seems to make it work; banging on the starter did not help as opposed to the screw driver

THINGS I"VE DONE: Cleaned battery posts, secured connections
Battery reads 12.5-12.6 volts resting charge
Battery reads 12.9 and below right after the car has been running and shut off
Battery reads 13.9 volts with car warmed up and running
Battery has been discharged completely (11.53 and under) ONCE during my owner ship (~7 months)

***important thing i remembered, i've been having to jump start my car 3 times this week,
1.I was testing my broken subwoofer and radio for about an hour with the car off, next day it needed a jump
2. One day after work I noticed my driver's side door was cracked open (but still locked) which made the light stay on, I needed a jump
3. one occasion I forgot when

during this span of the week I would let the car idle or drive it for a good 15 minutes+ to let the car "charge up" after being started ***

I figured the trick to get the new solenoid to not grind the flywheel was slowly killing my battery;

so not sure if the battery is weak
the solenoid is too strong and the starter can't keep up
need a new battery?
need a new complete starter?
need to shim the starter?




Sorry my posts turn into a cluster**** I try to get organized and I just write all over the walls.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP GOING TO PUT THE NEW SOLENOID AND LIVE WITH THE GRINDING FLYWHEEL FOR A WHILE UNTIL I CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT'S WRONG.
GONNA BUY A NEW A BATTERY FIRST AND THEN A NEW STARTER IN DUE TIME, OR IN DUE MONEY

jaeravenal

ALSO VERY IMPORTANT

I noticed sometimes I would start the car; Bitchin betty would say

Parking brake is on! when starting the car with the parking brake.

It never used to do this; I"m not sure when this started, probably when I changed out the solenoid, or disconnected my powered subwoofer (blown amp)


Before bitchin betty would work perfect, left door was open, lights are on, parking brake on, fuel level is low, they all worked appropriately

could there be a short in the parking brake or something to drain the battery?

rogerz

If I were you I would repost a logical and well written description of your problem because what you have up there is totally confusing. Only thing I can think of you put too long a bolt holding the starter in place and that is what is grinding on the flywheel.

Zuphoria

ya what he said

zxguy1986

Yeah. What they said.

jaeravenal

Thank you all for the responses and sorry for the craziness of the post. I replaced the starter with a used one off a 15x,xxx mile one off of ebay and it starts up fine even with a few chipped teeth, no grinding whatsoever. It seems like the starter was on it's way out even with the new solenoid. THANK YOU!