Hey, remember this clicking noise?

http://s303.photobucket.com/user/bttfma ... 3.mp4.html

I found out what that noise was finally. I took out the mini starter, and I could tell there was just something quite not right. As I pull it out there are two pieces hanging loose in there. I was able to recover one piece, but the other fell behind the engine.

One broken piece is sitting atop this starter. The other piece, like I said is behind the engine.




The mystery of that rattle is solved. But I didn't like seeing that. Oh well.

Man that hurts!

Sounds like you get to fishing for a part with a coat hanger or bench ruler from the tranny inspection plate to get that last part out. I think I would be tempted to either a) be cheap and just dremel/angle grinder the housing off and run it without the "cup", or b) procure another one from the junkyard and use this one as spare parts (in case you find one from the junkyard that doesn't work so well-it's easy to swap the guts around on these if you have metric sockets.

-D.Idiot

I am planning on pulling the engine anyway.

Are you saying I could actually install it back this way? That would kind of make sense, since it was starting the car okay with that floating around.

A scattered pressure plate took the nose off the mini in my HAMBster two seasons ago. Still working just fine without it.

_________________
Sex, drags, and rock & roll.
Dick, 225% crazy.
Hobby (cars, that is) Photos link

Just cut that jagged nose off so it doesn't crack again and put another part into the ring gear.

Sounds like a good plan. Thanks.

Same thing happened to a new mini-starter I bought from a "well known" Mopar enthusiast supplier. Before I bought, I was assured the starter was North American sourced, but when it arrived in the yellow-ish cardboard box, it was obviously made in China, even though there were no markings on the box or part that stated country of origin. When contacted, the supplier said he was surprised, and said he had earlier worked with his source to make sure they didn't ship any Chinese parts. I told him what he could do with his crap, and used it for a core on a Mopar rebuilt.

The nose broke off the first time I hit the key to start and two large pieces wedged between the torque converter and the block, causing the engine to sieze. It took hours to find a way to dislodge the pieces. I couldn't turn the engine and couldn't reach the parts with my hands, but finally managed to break them loose with a long punch and a big hammer.