I have an 84 van with an inline gas motor and the diesel style 50 degree mounting set up. The transmission is currently out. I have had this strange "squelching" sound when I start the vehicle...not every time but frequently. Been doing this now for a few years and perhaps 40k miles...There is no problem starting, the starter seems to behave normally, other than the weird sound as the gear retracts, I guess. On this diesel starter, there is a small bearing or bushing sharing the shaft with the starter gear. It is about 5mm wide, with a shallow groove around the circumference and is slightly loose on that shaft. It seems to be meant to slide back and forth slightly on that shaft, perhaps to keep the gear from being extended too far into the flywheel teeth? I can 'wiggle' this bushing slightly with my fingers....It seems like this could be the source of the weird sound that sometimes comes when I release my starter switch....kinda sounds like when you trap a ping pong ball (do people still play ping pong?) under the paddle against the table.... Does anyone have anything to advise about this? Is that bushing (sorry for the imprecise terminology) supposed to wiggle, or should it slide smoothly on that shaft? Can that little bushing be replaced by itself? What's it called? thanks. Don Hanson |
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