Denso? Mitsubishi? Where Do I Start?

[icanfixall]

When I got my 89 crewcab it had supposedly 34,000 miles on it. I actually feel it did because there was very little wear on the brake peddle or any other places. Underbody was clean but not spotles. I had the direct drive and it was huge and very heavy to remove or install. They turn very slow compared to the gear reduction starters of today. As for a grinding starter , you have some ground off teeth on the edges. Our engines start and stop on one of 3 places. So those areas of the gear wear faster. I have only seen this happen to the auto trans wheels and the heavy cast iron ones. Never seen it happen on the thin stamped flex plates or the standard tran wheels.

 

[Knuckledragger]

Many people here are sold on gear reduction starters. Their main positive attribute is that they will start the diesel engines with low battery power, where the Delco starters will not do as well. Both starter styles turn the engines about the same speed. The gear reduction starters make a lot of noise through the gearbox, so they sound like they are doing more. The fact is that the direct drive motors are big, heavy brutes that have lots of power and torque, where the gear reduction motors are shorter, lighter, fast turning and depend on the gearbox to create torque as well as reduce the final drive speed. they are also said to be far easier to install, because the third bolt is really (I mean REALLY) tough to install on the Delco starters. Whatever you are happy with is what you should buy. I have a Delco starter and am perfectly happy. It starts in two revolutions and is very quiet.

The grinding noise is as Gary stated,teeth on the ring gear that have been busted off. The gears may still be available, but if you want to fix it with only use of your time, take off the flywheel (flexplate, if it is cast iron). Mark any spot on the gear and flywheel as a register. Knock off the ring gear, rotate it about 45 degrees and reinstall. Problem solved.