98 Ls Start Up Grinding Noise

[Jarebear]

Thanks for the pic Randall, I took some pics of the flywheel. This is mostly what I saw as I was spinning the engine, the third pic is the worst, what do you think? Is the starter the bandit?

[landar]

I cannot really tell but it looks like several teeth are damaged(nicks and deformed)? If so, then yes, your starter is messing it up. Either that or the flexplate teeth were defective. In any case, that looks to me to be pretty significant evidence of your intermittent grinding noise. I just hope you do not need to replace the flexplate as well as the starter but you may have to if the damage is extensive. I would bet the teeth on the starter are fairly messed up.

So, do several teeth look like they are missing metal? What do you think, SRK?

[SRK]

I agree with Landar -those teeth are damaged and don't show normal wear. Usually the teeth are damaged on the side, or edge first presented to the starter pinion. And usually that wear is distributed in "patches" wear the engine stops on compression. On the V-8 there would be four of course. But the damage on your ring gear is odd - it's on the top of the teeth, and looks like impact damage more than wear. I'd suspect some foreign object, a nut or a bolt or a washer, has got in between the pinion and the ring gear.

With the lower cover off, as Landar suggested, take the time to try and wipe the bottom of the bellhousing out with your finger or a rag. See if you can find any particles lying in the bottom. That may give a further clue as to what's happening.

The ring gear can be saved by taking the burrs off with a die grinder, the pinion should be replaced. That's assuming you ever get that deep into the repair. Hopefully you find the culprit lying in the bellhousing.

[Jarebear]

Well I can officially testify, this job was not easy. Got the new starter in and am in the process of buttoning the car back up. By the way, to burp my car of any air pockets when I put antifreeze back in, just let the car run with the radiator cap off? The little screw on my throttle body just won't come off. I know I need to turn my heater on high. Anything else?

[landar]

Just follow the directions in the manual. Let the engine warm up for 10 minutes then run at about 2k RPM for a few minutes with heater on high. Keep checking the level in the reservoir and top off if needed. Very easy.

So, what did you discover with the starter teeth?

[Jarebear]

They actually weren't that bad, weird. There seemed to be normal wear on the sides of the teeth, but I did notice that when I would pull the pinion gear out, it wouldn't always retract back in real quickly, sometimes it would and other times it would go back in real slowly, maybe this was the issue? I dunno, maybe a lack of lubrication behind the gear. Anyways, I can take pictures of the old one later when I get back home. The only thing I dread is getting everything back together and then turning the key and the car not starting. I've heard horror stories where owners buttoned their LS400's all back up only to discover the terrifying truth that the starter they bought is garbage. I got a brand new one from RockAuto called TYC. Anyone had any experience with these?

[landar]

I know what you mean about turning the key for the first time. I would install the starter, wire it up and then before installing the intake manifold and buttoning it all back up, 'bump' the key to see if the new starter will come to life. The engine is not going to run but it is just a quick sanity test on the starter and wiring. Thats just me though. Be careful to get all connectors and wires back together and you will be fine.