Hi all,
Ive had my 1993 TR for only about 3 months and so far it has been great and very reliable. One small unusual thing that i have noticed is occasionally when starting, it makes that horrible grinding sound that it makes if you leave the key turned to "start" for too long. The strange part is that it does this before the engine has even started firing... :confused: i would have thought that would have been impossible. Like i said, its only very occasionally that this happens, but im curious as to how/why this happens.

Starter motor's pinion gear engages only when its powered up, maybe the mechanism that pulls it in (solenoid?) is getting a bit weak or sticky and the pinion is only partially engaged.

Whenever I've mucked about with starter motors, we avoid greasing the springloaded pinion. Running it dry causes less problems on the older "Lucas" starters.

Yes i thought it would be something to do with it sticking... but normally you would hear grinding because the flywheel is spinning too fast for the starter motor, which would happen when the engine is actually firing. but it does it when its not firing, when the only thing spinning the flywheel is the starter motor... :confused: puzzling...

The pinion is springloaded to return it *off* the flywheel when starter is not operating.

Maybe the solenoid is getting weak, can't overcome the spring's force anymore and
the pinion is hitting the side of the flywheel - grinding against it.


Have had some solenoid problem on TN before, it got too weak to pull in to start unless
the battery was fully juiced up. Needed a starter motor overhaul - not very expensive.

The starter motor in the TR/S is a reduction gear starter that uses planetary gears. The planetary carrier (annulus gear) is made of plastic and these will crack. This makes a noise similar to a starter staying engaged. If you can get the starter out and have the tools and know how to dissassemble/reassemble it then a new plastic gear is about $30 from an auto elec.

Do both 4s and V6s in the TR/TS use planetary style starters?

Do both 4s and V6s in the TR/TS use planetary style starters?

I don't know for certain about 6 cyl magnas but when I replaced the plastic gear in a TS 4cyl starter the auto elec I bought the part from said that similar bosch reduction starters were fitted to some falcons and commodores and they had the same problem so I would say that 6cyl magnas probably have the same bosch reduction setup too. :doubt:

the noise I mentioned in the earlier post is only heard when cranking and a second or two after letting go of the key. If a starter is binding on the flywheel ring gear or being held in by the solenoid then it will continue to make noise as the motor runs and revs.