Electrical problem
1992 Mitsubishi Eclipse 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 122456 miles
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hi i have recently put a new starter in my car, however it still has trouble starting and someone told me that i need to have my flywheel re-surfaced so my question is is this a possible solution to my problem and about how much will this cost me...seems that this car does nothing but cost me money i paid 1700 for it and so far have almost 1200 into it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thank you so much, Amber

Hi amberbid,

You must tell us what trouble it is before we can assist you.

the problem is that after putting in a new starter my car still struggles to start and makes a grinding noise when starting it....the flywheel has been checked out and all teeth are in tact...so any ideas as to what could be causing this? also it dies sometimes when sitting at a red light...thank you so much.

Hi amberbid,

When and what type of grinding noise? If the grinding noise is from the starter, you could have replaced with a wrong type of starter, the gears might be different from the original.

The engine stalling has nothing to do with the starter.

Is the check engine light showing?

The starter came from auto zone and it is for a Mitsubishi Eclipse my car has 122xxx miles on it and the check engine light has been on for a while but the car always seemed fine up until the starter went out...one day my car wouldn't start and I found my starter bolt was almost completely out so at first I just had a new starter bolt put in but by this point the starter was dead so that's when i bought the new starter and my car started up but it makes a grinding noise it sounded like the starter wasn't catching so Auto zone said to have the flywheel checked out.

Hi amberbid,

Get a scan done to find out what is wrong with the check engine light.

As to the starter, if you still had the old starter, count the number of teeth and compare with the one you replaced.

Is the starter securely tightened?

Is the starter new or reconditioned?

auto zone has the old starter it is reconditioned , it is secure I grabbed a hold of it and i can't shake it so i would say its pretty tight..i had the flywheel resurfaced today and put back on and after getting my car put back together my car still makes a loud noise when trying to start it and struggles to start.

Hi amberbid,

Refacing the flywheel is not going to solve the problem if the ring gears are worn, were they checked?

When it struggles to start, you need to check the engine management system. The starter is only for cranking and starting depends on fuel, sparks and other sensors.

You have 2 problems here and you should isolate them.

I repeat this again, scan the ECM for error before we continue.

ok so I had a mechanic look at my car and he said my starter bolts are stripped...he said he would have to order them...how hard are they to find?? how much do you think is a fair price for this..he says this is why my car when starting was making the grinding noise because the starter bolts didn't fit right so my starter wasn't lined up right..and this is also the reason why my 2nd starter in 3 weeks went out any help would be great.

Hi amberbid,

Sounds funny. If the starter bolts did not fit well, you said the starter did not budge when you tried to shake it.

Starter bolts should be easy enough to find, they are not any special bolts, you only need the correct length and size.

The scrapyard should be discarding these as scrap junks.