STARTER MOTOR NOISE
To correct starter motor noise during starting, use the following diagnostic procedure. (Scheme 17)
Scheme 17
If complaint is noise, correction can be achieved by proper shimming as follows
- Check for a bent or a worn flywheel.
- Start engine and carefully touch outside diameter of rotating flywheel ring gear with chalk or a crayon to show high point of tooth runout. Turn engine OFF and rotate flywheel so that marked teeth are in area of starter pinion gear.
- Disconnect negative battery cable to prevent cranking of engine.
- Check pinion-to-flywheel clearance by using a wire gauge of .5 mm (.02") minimum thickness (or diameter). Center a pinion tooth between two flywheel teeth and gauge. Do not gauge in corners, where a misleading larger dimension may be observed. If clearance is under this minimum, shimming starter away from flywheel is required.
- If clearance approaches 1.5 mm (.06") or more, shimming starter toward flywheel is required. This condition is generally cause of broken flywheel teeth or starter housing. Shim starter toward flywheel by shimming only outboard starter mounting pad. A shim of .40 mm (.016") thickness at this location will decrease clearance by approximately .30 mm (.012"). If normal starter shims are not available, plain washers or other suitable material may be used as shims.