[trev.92.12v]

Hey all,

I'm new to this forum, I just inherited an automatic, intercooled D250 a few months ago and I love my truck. I daily drive it and it always started in less than a second after cranking the engine.

The other morning I went to work, started up just fine. I got back in my truck about 20 minutes after getting to work and it made a horrible grinding noise prior to starting. I freaked out, shut it off immediately and I couldn't get it started again without pumping the throttle (the grinding happened again) and it took even longer to start then before, about 5 seconds.

I immediately went and bought a new starter (left the truck running while I went it to buy it) and installed it as soon as I could get back in the driveway. The first crank after getting the new starter in was flawless, but I warmed up the truck, shut it off, tried to restart it and the problem is still occurring.

I googled and searched forums desperately for an answer, and I read that heat soak, a bad starter, and a bad flywheel might all be culprits. But what confuses me is how sudden everything was. The truck was running perfectly one night, and the next morning it's having trouble starting at all, much less without that terrible grinding.

Truck runs perfectly after start, any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[9297oldram]

Check the teeth on the flywheel and also check the flywheel to see if it's cracked.

 

[myother4x4isaCJ7]

Being an auto there is a very easy access panel to inspect the flexplate. If that looks fine it is probably time for a new starter...... just FYI pumping the throttle does nothing on a diesel.

 

[trev.92.12v]

I'll check it out this morning and get back to you, thanks!

 

[myother4x4isaCJ7]

I'll check it out this morning and get back to you, thanks!

Also you need to check the whole ring gear, most engines (these ones included) tend to stop in one spot most often and that will put a ton of wear on just one spot on the gear and the rest looks fine. I’ve seen that a few times.

 

[93cummins89]

Iv had this happen on heavy equipment with 5.9s the starter will grind the teeth of the flywheel or the starter its self. It a pain to change the starter and dropping the gear box to swap flywheels is a defiant no go until they need clutches or trans work.
The other pain is the dead spot in the flywheel teeth or eventually grinding them all down to the useless point


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[trev.92.12v]

I examined the flywheel and made sure to mark it so I knew when it turned a full rotation, I didn't see any uneveness, but it definitely looked worn. I do believe that it's starting better after changing out the starter but it's still unreliable.

I'm going to take her into a local shop on Monday to see what they have to say about it and I'll keep everyone updated.

Side note: changing the starter was horribly frustrating but i got it done. Best bet is to take out the lowest bolt last, and put the lowest bolt back first. I also bought a ratcheting wrench and that made the process about 10x quicker.

Thanks again

 

[trev.92.12v]

Final update, the issue was a failing Neutral Safety Switch. No idea why it was having trouble when warm, or why it was causing any sort of grinding, but as soon as I got the safety switch replaced the truck starts good as new.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[9297oldram]

How can a neutral safety switch cause it to quit grinding?