starter grinding noise after replacement

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Jeef

NO MA'AM
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I replaced the starter in my sister in laws automatic 2006 Civic Dx. Its a really bitch to replace, really a fucking pain in the ass. The car cranks over fine and starts great, but it makes a slight grinding noise at the end of starting cycle. It doesnt always do it, but most of the time. It seems like it is when the car starts or just after it starts. There were no shims included and the starters seem identical.
I want to hope that its something that will work itself out but I have the feeling I will have to install a new one.

Why would it do this?
 
All I can offer is to triple check the bolts are seated. Since it was a bitch...check it out.

Aftermarket? Might be the issue too.
 
It is bolted in all the way as far as I can tell. It is a reman. You can not see the starter from the top and the bottom only has a small area to access the starter.

I'll grab the car another day and see if I can realign it, if not its going back to the zone to get another one.
 
It didn't seem like there was much wiggle room to adjust it. Are Bosch Remans any better?
 
:yes:

Bosch makes/remans good shit, in my experience.

Sounds to me like it's not bolted down all the way or not aligned properly, BMW I6 starters have that issue. Loosen it up, wiggle it around, and re-torque it and see if that takes care of it. I'd find it hard to believe that a manufacturing defect is causing it, but it's entirely possible.
 
That will probably be the route to go.

Its definitely a case of the engineers are not technicians. I wish that they would design vehicle with the person working on it in mind. When I used to be a traveling equipment repair tech we would get pissed at the companies new equipment. One of my old co-workers would rip tech support a new one for having to remove half a machine to do what should take a couple of minutes.
 
Its definitely a case of the engineers are not technicians. I wish that they would design vehicle with the person working on it in mind.


Trust me, you have no idea. "The fuck do you mean I have to pull the head to change that gasket?"
 
Finally got back to fixing the thing today. I tried adjusting it several times and it didn't do a thing, so I made the decision to pull the starter out. The gear's teeth were different than the stock starter's.
I went to the zone to see what could be done. The guy pulled out another starter and it had the weird cut on the teeth. I asked if they carried a different brand starter and he said no. He was quick to give me a refund and said that there much be a manufacturing defect and a new one will just give you the same problem. I went to NAPA and the teeth are the same. No grinding and it starts great.

Lesson, I checked the starter and compared it to the old one. I just didn't inspect the teeth that close. I could have saved having to do this PITA job twice if I had inspected the zone starter better.
 
Happens. You should contact the manufacturer for the AutoZone part and demand compensation for finding their mistake. :D
 
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