Starter Hiccup??

[moparmaniac59]

Anybody ever have this happen?? :clueless:I have been having starter issues for a few weeks where it just started to sound like it had gravel in it. Well it's no wonder it sounded like that. It finally left me stranded where it would just spin, but not engage. I removed it (high torque mini starter) and when I pulled it out, The whole end of the starter housing was broken off. The housing is cast aluminum and has a button on the end that mates to a hole in the transmission housing. It was still stuck in the mating hole but jammed against the torque converter ring gear. Since the torque converter ring gear is hardened steel, it had no damage to it. Just small aluminum filings. I got it all cleaned up and put in a new starter. I remember a few months back when I had a back-fire thru the carburetor; something the motor is not known to do. Well I figure that the starter was engaged when this happend and that back-fire force (Hiccup) just sheared that starter housing end right off!! It works beautifully now. Very smooth. Anyone else ever have this happen??

                                                   Matt B.

[BB73Challenger]

WOW that's crazy!
You don't happen to have a pic do you? Just curious.
Never heard of that before!

[swede-cuda]

hej,i also have a mopar mini(great).after the winter sleep the starter sounded like a machine gun,changed battery,all good.

[moparmaniac59]

What a POS!!! :swear:I just placed a post with pic and it didn't take!! Oh well. I've posted (I think) a picture of my wasted starter. I do recall the back-fire I had as it shot a nice flame out of the carburetor & the car is not known for this and runs well. I gave this a lot of thought and figured with the starter engaged while the engine had a back-fire, that that force would be enough to break or lock up the starter. This is just my 5th grade professional opinion! :crazy:I'd like to see what anyone else thinks! :dunno:I know that the starter started to sound like it had "gravel" in it & at this point I think it was cracked and continued to work until it broke completely off and jammed against the torque converter ring gear. the starter continued to turn over, but because it had no housing to support the end of the starter drive gear, it just skipped/slipped and ground against the torque ring gear. Yikes!!

                                              Matt B.

[BB73Challenger]

Wow, seems feasible that while engaged the starter could have been damaged during a sudden reversal.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Matt,

  This is crazy.   


Just a note to you... Put a space in front of and behind each smiley, that way we see it.   


  Mike

[moparmaniac59]

I wondered why those smiley things didn't always work!! Now I know!! 

                                                   Matt B.

[Supercuda]

Yes, I think that you have properly diagnosed your broken starter. It looks a lot like it was broken by a violent kickback, which is exactly what you describe. I have only seen one other starter like this, and it was also on a 440. The damage was almost identical, and was likely from the same cause. Don't have kitties over it; it isn't worth getting worked up about. As you stated, this stuff normally doesn't happen to you, so it won't likely happen again.