83 944 Cold Start Grind when turn key

[Vinny]

I have a 1983 944. In the morning when I go to start it, the first couple of times I turn the key, I get a grinding noise. The third or fouth time I try, engine fires right up. If I drive the car for a while and turn it off and then try to start again, it starts right up without grinding. I have been told it could be flywheel, starter or even weak battery (battery is fairly new). How can I determine the cause so I can fix? Any help is appreciated. By the way, I am a newby so am not real technical, but I am trying to learn.

[Razorback1980]

Hey Vinny...welcome to the forum.

I would guess it's the starter. Check out Clarks-garage.com and learn how to remove it. For sure not a battery. When you remove the starter, you will see the flywheel inside the hole where the starter came from. You can inspect the teeth and unless they are ground off really bad, it's not the problem either. The way starters work is they have a gear on a shaft that slides forward when you turn the key and that gear meshes with the flywheel teeth and spin the motor. The gear that slides forward is also mounted on a one-way clutch so that when the motor starts and begins to turn faster than the starter, the one way clutch allows the starter gear to spin freely. The gear within the starter is called a starter drive and you can just buy those separately but if you are not a great mechanic, just replace the starter with a rebuilt one or a new one. Of course we recommend you buy from Pelican as they support us through this forum. This problem (if I'm right) will continue to get worse and will eventually cause the starter to not work altogether. Fixing it early is the key to not walking.

Good Luck.

[Vinny]

Thanks so much for the info Tom. I will let you know how it turns out.