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2001 Saturn SL. the starter is turning over very good but not engaging with ring gear. Starter gear not moving forward to engage, so just spins without turning over motor. Juts not engaging with ring gear so the gear is not moving forward to engage.
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Take the starter back out but leave it connected. If it doesn't use a ground wire, make up a heavy wire and use that for ground.
When you hit the key, watch to see if the starter gear moves forward to engage an doesn't just spin. (it engages the flywheel when in place.) The engine isn't supposed to fire if it's not turning.
When you replaced starter did you notice the condition of the
flywheel ring gear? My guess is the ring gear is very badly worn or somehow the positioning of the starter is such that it is off enough
that it runs into the ring inside the gear. Did you hit something in the road before this symptom started? Any chance someone tried to jack up the car and used the starter as a lifting point?
Accident? Are you sure it's your original engine? Ie they used to be very easy to change. Any other thing that would bend the mounting point on the engine? If manual transmission, try to move the engine a little by moving the car with clutch engaged.
If Automatic try to move ring gear with a tool if you can get to it.
If this action is sufficient to move the ring gear into a "good" spot
and the Starter will engage, you now know you have a few bad spots.
If I understand your statement correctly, noise but the engine will not "turn over." This sounds like the starter motor is running but the gear that engages the flywheel gear-teeth is not making contact at all or is moving into too-slight contact, just enough to make a lot of noise. In U.S. cars the device on the stater motor that moves the starter gear forward is called a "Bendix." As the starter motor starts to turn, the Bendix shoves a small gear forward, engaging teeth on the flywheel which spins the flywheel to start the engine. If the Bendix is sticking or has failed the gear will not move forward at all or not far enough.
Sarting with the least cost first, I'd look toward a "sticky" bendix. Try using a light penetrating oil or perhaps, WD-40 to free-up the Bendix.
Make sure your battery is fully charged and check all battery cables . Make sure the connections are clean and tight.if the starter clicks the starter solenoid switch could be at fault. Could be a bad starter its self. If its internal your ring gear in the engine could have teeth missing causing the starter to just spin.
These are just ideas.
Make sure your battery is fully charged and check all battery cables . Make sure the connections are clean and tight.if the starter clicks the starter solenoid switch could be at fault. Could be a bad starter its self. If its internal your ring gear in the engine could have teeth missing causing the starter to just spin.
These are just ideas.
if the starter is spinning very fast, that is a clue that the gear on the starter is not engaging with the ring gear on the flywheel. so either the bendix is not moving the starter gear over to engage or there are a bunch of missing teeth on the ring gear. hope it is the first, way cheaper and easier to fix than the second
If the starter is spinning but it is not engaging the ring gear, you have a bad solenoid. This is to push the gear forward to turn over the engine. If the solenoid built into the starter or a separate part?
pull out the starter, put a new one in. the bendix is the lever contraption on top which moves the gear forward to engage the teeth on the ring gear or flywheel and which retracts it, like a turtle head, when the starter switch is released. i think the days of replacing the bendix only are gone, and the hassle involved in pulling a saturn starter on a 91-99 1.9L means you do it once.
The starter on my 2001 SL1 was easy to get to, and remove. I would pull it and take it to a parts house to have it tested. It is possible the brushes are sticking.
eathier it needs shims or you have a bad flywheel sounds like its free spinning at times pull the starter an turn the ring gear make sure its not missing teeth if not you may need shims
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