Starter cog on crank has broken teeth need to replace

it does sound like the teeth on the starter or flywheel are worn. Is there any slots on the starter to rock the starter closer to the side of the engine? Was the starter recently replaced and possibly missing a shim?

If the starter is spinning and not engaging the flywheel to start the car, suspect a defective starter drive clutch and starter replacement will be required

This is an excellent engine for timing up every cog has a timing mark in the front castings and of course on the cogs except the injector pump the mark is on the casting but the wheel has a sub plate carrying the mark so it is most important to mark the plate with reference to the cog before taking off the four six mm bolts. The balance shafts also have pecks in them and corresponding casting marks, be sure to change both timing belts at the same time.the crank pulley can be troublesome as most were auto boxes so the engine can't be held. I made a simple but very effective way of holding the crank solid, in the book it suggests wedging flywheel with screwdriver which is impossible. On the lower bell housing casing there are two very thick angled webs, remove dirt plate four bolts, now you can see the starter ring. Drill at tap the angled webs 8mm with holes perpendicular to the crank centre and central on the starter ring.get two 8mm cap screws 40mm long and nuts. Grind the tips to a stub point at the angle between the starter ring teeth, put on the lock nuts right to the shoulders and screw them into your tapped holes, firstly having set the crank to the mark on the inner belt cog TDC, tighten the bolts into the starter ring and set the lock nuts. The crank won't move I have had the torque bar to 220ftlbs on the front bolt not a movement all timing is made so simple from this point forward as is the refitting of the 5th harmonic damper pulley with lots of loctite

the gear on the flywheel has worn. the engine stops in one of four spots in the rotation 'cause the cylinder pressure is building. That means the starter has not got the whole flywheel, but only a few teeth in four spots that is starts on every single time. these teeth wear out, then the starter motor cog cant turn the flywheel and you get the screech like you tried to change a stick shift without the clutch!
if you do have a stick shift, then you can park on a slight hill, and roll just a bit with the clutch half out, which will rotate the engine and give the starter motor fresh teeth to work on.
in short, yes, you need a mechanic.....

broken teeth on flywheel or starter pinion. take starter out and bench test it. if starter seems good and no teeth are missing/worn, inspect flywheel through starter whole

THe starter engages the fly wheel and in the process turns the motor over to cause it to crank. The grinding can be a bad starter causing the gear to either not engage fully or not disengage. It can also indicate missing teeth on the flywheel from damage from starter. If the car cranks and grinding goes away it points to the starter solenoid not engaging properly.. pushing gear into contact with flywheel. I would recommend replacing the starter and you can replace it with a good mechanical knowledge and DIY.

You can remove starter and check to see how the teeth look on the alternator. You will also need to inspect the flywheel to be sure that the teeth on the flywheel are not broken or missing. Your best bet would be the starter, because if the flywheel is missing teeth, you will need to remove the transmission to get to it. Good Luck.

sounds like you will need to replace starter pulley in the starter cover assy and check that the starter pawls are free to move and the pawl springs are no broken or the pawls are frozen

but your problem is most likley starter pulley

remove the starter cover and check the starter pulley

worn or damage teeth on pulley may be quite evident

cheers pauly46

Yes it could be wear on the ring gear.To check move the car slightly when in gear and try starting again. or remove the starter and check if any teeth are missing on the ring gear. (the ring gear is a large cog wheel around the outside of the fly wheel). It is still most likely to be the starter. Although it seems ok the sylanoid may be to weak to throw the cog wheel into the ring gear

sounds like the starter is not disengaging the fly wheel quickly like it should when you turn the key the starter cog connects upto a fly wheel that has teeth all around it when the teeth of starter cog connect between teen on wheel it spins it to crank your car then goes back to starter if you hold your key on after starting the noise you hear is the starter cog(teeth ) still engaged in wheel if this is the sound it needs to be serviced not neccassarily replaced