Hi guys,

First off, I like to thank Jimmyhat for the starter he sold me to replace the one you see in the attached photo. Have any of you ever seen a start do this?? Keep in mind that i dont beat on my car...i might play a little from light to light if the urge strikes me, but that is the full extent of the abuse my car sees.
Close inspection of the flywheel showd no damage, just a shiny wear mark of aluminum on it. All I can say is that i'm glad i didnt waste anytime taking care of this problem or it could have gotten very messy.

 

DAMN! What were the symptoms of your starter problem? It looks like a grenade went off in your bellhousing.

 

when i was at CFP about 2 weeks ago, arjay's blue mustang came in on the tow truck, he said his starter died. he left for class or something and when the guys put it up on the lift, the starter was dangling by the harness and had broken off with a big chunk of T5??? bellhousing, just like that.


but you gotta remember those starters put out alot of torque to get the engine rotating assembly and flywheel moving to start the car, one little snafu and bam lol.

 

You would think it would have made a terrible noise...but actually it made a tumbling metal sort of sound. It sounded as if the drive gear of the starter was engaging all the time. I've heard alternators that have sounded worse. I was lucky to catch it quickly...and probably was saved by how it broke. Thank goodness it didnt get jammed between the flywheel and housing or it would have ended up that T5. When i pulled the starter out the "nose" portion that holds the shaft bearing was still in the bell housing. If i ever do an engine swap i'm sure i will see some interesting shavings in the bottom of the housing.