vwben88 Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 I have a L18 motor in my datsun wagon. Ever since i bought the car its had a starter grinding problem. It seems like the starter is barley engaging with the flywheel. Ive already tried three starters and get the same results. I looked at the flywheel and the teeth arent that bad. So i was wondering is it possible it has the wrong flywheel are am i using the wrong starter. I used my old starter off my l20 it does the same thing so if anybody has run into this problem before and know how to fix it could you please let me know thanks. The tranny is standard Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 Clean and tighten your battery cables. Be sure to clean and tighten the negative cable where it bolts to the head. Also make sure that there is a ground strap from the negative to the body sheet metal. This will assure that you have all the power from the battery to the starter and back again to give strong cranking. Weak connections will give poor starting. Standard or automatic? Important! All L16/18 flywheels will interchange. Quote Link to comment
vwben88 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 its standard Quote Link to comment
datsunaholic Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 Well, I can't say that it is your problem, but on one of my engines I was having starter grinding and binding issues. Turned out the cause was incorrect engine assembly- the bearings were in the wrong order, which made the crank move axially nearly a half inch. A totally worn out thrust washer would do the same thing. Another possibility is was this engine ever an automatic? It's possible, but unlikely, that someone forgot to take the crank end spacer off when converting, which would space the flywheel rearward too far. Quote Link to comment
Laecaon Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 My car had problems starting, would make the awesome grinding sound almost constantly. I replaced the battery cables and it now starts 19/20 times I try. It still sometimes does that amazing grind sound. Quote Link to comment
vwben88 Posted March 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 that is possible because it had an automatic radiator so u say that it might have a spacer behind the thrust bearing? Quote Link to comment
vwben88 Posted March 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 well thanks for the info i guess i will pull th tranny and check those problems Quote Link to comment
Farmer Joe Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 my L20 does the same thing sometimes... it did it when i had the auto in it, and after i got a whole different flywheel when i did the 5 speed swap... now bear with me, the reason for the 5 speed swap was pretty much to replace the flexplate that had been ate up by the starter too many times... but even after i put the z24 flywheel on it, ill always get a spot that will grind.. dont have the flexplate spacer in or anything... i think its just a datsun thing... Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 The automatics had a flex plate with starter ring on the outer edge. Mounted between it and the crank is a spacer plate like this. Some later ones (top right below) actually clip on over the crank and you can't fit the standard flywheel on over it. . Quote Link to comment
ppeters914 Posted March 3, 2011 Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 If all the other suggestions don't work, here's something I just learned... While the teeth may not look that bad, the engine will usually "park" itself in the same two spots, thus the same bunch of teeth will engage the starter. Unbolt the flywheel, rotate it (doesn't matter which direction) until the holes line up, and bolt it down again. Pete Quote Link to comment
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