Starter making grinding noise when turning over car

[Losiracer2]

I've had this for awhile now and couldn't figure it out...but when I go to start the car (H22A coupe) it sounds like the starter is grinding its gears? Its not smooth like it should be with that silky smooth engagement?

Would I need to space it out some? or are Prelude and Accord starters specific? I didn't think they were.

I do have a Fidanza lightweight flywheel, so I don't know if that'll affect this or if the starter just need to be adjusted. If anyone has had this issue in the past, what did you do to fix it?

the closest thread I found that's having similar issues is this one: http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...=starter+noise

Mine is making the same noise, kinda like metal on metal, really scratchy, like when you grind gears almost.

[Ely585]

Same thing happened to me.. what i did was take the start out looked at the gear and it was destroyed replaced it.. problem solved

[wed3k]

bendix

[RyanD]

Hell yea! Bendix. Makes some starters! Or Slick. Those are grate to

[oyajicool]

I thought the starter motor for Accords has solenoid rather than bendix to kick in the gear.

Anyways, the OP's starter's gear is wearing down. Or gears on flywheel.
And this is my guess. As long as the starter motor is made to mate with the flywheel, there shall not be grinding.

I don't think there's any feature to adjust or do anything on our starter.

[Losiracer2]

you don't think its due to the flywheel being an aftermarket one?

I tried finding a person with my setup (fidanza 8lb flywheel) but no one else had any symptoms that I could see.

Well I'll take the starter off when I get back from work today and inspect the teeth to see if they are worn down excessively.

[Bad_dude]

you don't think its due to the flywheel being an aftermarket one?

I tried finding a person with my setup (fidanza 8lb flywheel) but no one else had any symptoms that I could see.

Well I'll take the starter off when I get back from work today and inspect the teeth to see if they are worn down excessively.

The grinding is usually cause by the teeth not matching b/w the fly wheel and the starter. One thing you could do is put a junkyard starter on it and if it goes away then you already know which. If not then it's your flywheel. The grinding also occurs when the plunger on the starter does not push all the way out to match the fly wheel. I have seen a few from people trying to use a Corolla' starter on a Camry. It could also be the fly wheel is after market not matching the teeth on the starter.

[oyajicool]

you don't think its due to the flywheel being an aftermarket one?

I tried finding a person with my setup (fidanza 8lb flywheel) but no one else had any symptoms that I could see.

Well I'll take the starter off when I get back from work today and inspect the teeth to see if they are worn down excessively.

I don't know how long you had that flywheel and starter on your car. If the flywheel is the issue, you'll hearing noise from day one. If the flywheel is of lesser quality and worn down, you'll see it as the starter motor is removed. Flywheel as well as starter gear should have bevel cut for ease of engagement. As these beveled teeth wear, they don't engage well, thus grinds.

As noted, plunger may have difficulty in extending due to rust or crud build up. If this is the case, it can be cleaned. I had a 3 month old automotive style starter motor used on an airplane had this issue. I had sent that motor for warranty work. The shop found rust build up in plunger/solenoid assembly, which was causing sluggish operation.

I hope it's a starter

[Bad_dude]

The problem with the starters on our cars are mostly Mitsuba. And the Mitsubas, you cannot remove the cover for the solenoid that easy to see the rust inside. You might have to replace the solenoid and it might cost more than the junkyard starter.
If you are lucky and get those rare which only exist in manual tranny, you get a Denso. Those are really nice. Electronics spray cleaner does the trick. While you have it off, replace the contacts and plunger in it.

[wed3k]

you don't think its due to the flywheel being an aftermarket one?

I tried finding a person with my setup (fidanza 8lb flywheel) but no one else had any symptoms that I could see.

Well I'll take the starter off when I get back from work today and inspect the teeth to see if they are worn down excessively.

never had any issue with cheap or expensive aftermarket flywheels

[Losiracer2]

well the flywheel has a removable ring gear. Its held on with what looks like not enough allen screws around the circumference of it. Its pretty tough material though, 1050 steel that's undergoes a heat treating process.

http://www.fidanza.com/Aluminum-Flywheels.aspx

But I had my tranny off back in april/may when I was replacing a syncro sleeve and bearings and also inspected the ring gear as well as the friction insert and everything looked fine, no abnormal wear.

But my starter's always done this from day one, ever since I converted to a 5spd. Although, I did put two used starters on, never tried a new one yet.

Would this wear be something immediately noticeable when you take the starter out? I've been having long days at work, hopefully I'll get to it either tomorrow or for sure on Sat.

[oyajicool]

But my starter's always done this from day one, ever since I converted to a 5spd. Although, I did put two used starters on, never tried a new one yet.

Those two starters you put on, were they making grinding noise from day one? Or were they replaced due to other reason? Starter alone cannot make grinding noise unless it has horribly worn out bearings.

[Losiracer2]

Those two starters you put on, were they making grinding noise from day one? Or were they replaced due to other reason? Starter alone cannot make grinding noise unless it has horribly worn out bearings.

well I bought another because I thought my original one was on its last legs. The second one I bought was a used one from a HMO swap, except he bought an H22 and did an H2B setup so he didn't need this.

Both of mine are Mitsubas. It sounds like it has enough power but it just sounds like a scratch once I hear the engine turnover.

I just now tried swapping another spare starter I had from another H22 I bought a couple months back...this one looks like a Checker/Oreilly starter so it is a lot newer. Brushes are a lot newer so I swapped those, the motor and the starter teeth that engage on the flywheel and it still does the same thing.

I had to reuse my old solenoid though since this one was damaged in an accident. So that was the only part carried over.

Idk the only other option would be to buy a new one or to swap the one from my DD 4dr onto my 2dr. But even that one has 267k on it so and it sounds perfect.

I'm thinking it has to be the flywheel, something's not meshing right on it. So I'll probably have to just live with it, or change out my flywheel to stock in order for it to go away.

[h22sparkle]

The grinding is usually cause by the teeth not matching b/w the fly wheel and the starter. One thing you could do is put a junkyard starter on it and if it goes away then you already know which. If not then it's your flywheel. The grinding also occurs when the plunger on the starter does not push all the way out to match the fly wheel. I have seen a few from people trying to use a Corolla' starter on a Camry. It could also be the fly wheel is after market not matching the teeth on the starter.

Exactly you can check out the starter or see if the wheels arent properly meshed on there. Or in other cases Ive seen starter bolts loose which caused the issue of how the starter mates with the fllywheel when it turns the car on when its gets cranked up.