Daihatsu Rocky starter...

I have a 1992 Rocky that I've had for a long time, but being an orphan, somethings are getting harder and harder to work on....

The latest is this... The start started to go out, intermittently, it would just do nothing, a couple of times, I was able to tap on the starter and it would work, or I would push start it and then the starter would be fine for a good while. I finally decided it was time to replace it. I had a "lifetime warranty" starter from Advance, so I took the old one out, took it to Advance and ordered the new one. A week later, the new one comes in, I installed it, try to start Rocky, and it just grinds against the flywheel.... hmmm defective starter, so I take that one back and order another one.... Same issue. I can bench test the starter, it turns, and the solenoid pops the gear out, etc. But installed, it just grinds against the flywheel (and the teeth on the flywheel show it).

I've checked two things.... On o'reilly's site, it shows that the starter should have 9 teeth and the one I've got has 9 teeth. The second thing is that the teeth on the flywheel look ok. I can see where the new starter has ground against them, but they aren't like broken off.

Any other ideas?

The really annoying thing is that I should have kept the starter I started with so I can compare the parts. But it was long-gone from the store since the starter took a week to arrive.

My options are: -Order another starter from a different store and hope it comes from a different rebuild outlet. ($120 solution) -Order a brand-new Bosch starter and hope that Bosch knows what they are doing. ($180 solution) -Pull the transmission/transfer case and then I can see why the starter won't engage with the flywheel.

Any other great ideas?

thanks

In reply to stecz:

Something I just thought of is... re-install the starter, and then move the truck in gear to try and engage a different spot on the flywheel. I'm skeptical that will help based on what I can see....

Some starters need to be shimmed to line up properly- have you looked to see if yours typically has shims available to space it out?

So the shims would move the starter out from the bell housing, causing less engagement? The attachment holes are all round, so I don't see a way to shim it and move the centerline of the pinion gear.

I forgot I have the shop manual for Rocky and in the troubleshooting, it says if the start spins, but the engine doesn't crank to repair the starter or replace the flywheel. (it doesn't mention anything about shims).

However, the manual does show how to disassemble the starter and repair it. But I think that is useless to me because I don't think the starter I have is compatible.

I was reading "grinds against the flywheel" as actually running the gear into the side of it instead of engaging. If there's no adjustment, then I'd say you either have the wrong starter or something has moved.

Have you checked for crankshaft end play? I've come across more than one Mitsubishi industrial engine with bad/worn crank thrust bearings, that allowed the flywheel to walk away from the starter gear. I don't know what engine the Rocky is using, but Mitsubishi isn't the only one that has that problem.

I'm thinking wrong starter as well.... I think I'm going to buy the Bosch remanufactured starter and see if that works. Based on the way the flywheel looks, it looks like the centerline of the pinion is too close to flywheel (although I can't really see that good, using a mirror, etc to look at the teeth)

$180 starter? What's the value of a Diahatsu Rocky these days, can't be more than $150.

(I kid, I think they are cool little trucklets)

I think mine is worth maybe $500.... so still under 1/2 of the value.

In reply to stecz:

I completely forgot about this thread... but I'll end it with the results... Spent 10 minutes installing the Bosch rebuilt starter, works like a champ.

Did you compare the Bosch to the advanced one???

Glad it's together and working though!!

I did... couldn't tell a difference, same number of teeth on the gear, etc. I didn't see how far out the solenoid extended. The bolt pattern and position of the gear matched. In fact, I almost didn't install the bosch starter, because I figured I would have the same problem...