Starter? Fly Wheel?

[dollarbill]

78' Chrysler 318's - Port engine.
Just started happening... Starter 3 years old... bendix engages for a split second and then just whirs.So I tested starter... bendix gear works fine... of course it is not under load though. New battery on that side. Same result. I inspect fly wheel by hand and it feels good nothing really bad. Starter bushings look good as well.

So I get out the breaker bar and manually bump the engine... stater starts... engine runs fine... turn it off after a few minutes... go to start it again - nada... bendix engages for a split second - engine bumps and then bendix spins...

Breaker bar and bumping will result in a start about every third bump or so bump. Manually bumping it is not a 100% start.

Ideas? If the flywheel was in worse shape than I was feeling - I may say flywheel but it did not feel that bad and I bumped it manually so I could see if there was a bad spot or two or three. I did not feel any.

Any suggestions would be appreciated as always...

[dollarbill]

Interesting... I will have to inspect better. This sounds logical.

http://www.trojanboats.net/wforum/viewt ... er&start=0

[prowlersfish]

If it just whirls then most likely the drive if it makes a grinding sound look at the flywheel Look to make sure the ring gears has not moved on the flywheel . rear mount starter ?