Hi -
I got temporarily stranded in the car last weekend. I went for a nice drive and stopped, then when I tried to start the car again I got the sound of the solernoid engaging and the starter moter whirling around. It didn't sound like it was grinding on anything, it just sounded like it wasn't making contact with a tooth on the flywheel. Occasionally in the past when I have started the car I have gotten the impression that it wasn't quite hitting a tooth on the flywheel but it always engaged.
Sat in the car and pondered for a while. Wiggled the car (I don't know why) and in a few minutes tried again and it worked fine. It's worked fine for at least 10 starts since then.
So here are my questions:
1. Do I have a bad tooth on my flywheel, and if so, is this as expensive and as much of a pain to fix as I think it is?
2. Is it possible that I have something simpler like a bad tooth on the starter, or it could in some way be a starter problem rather than a flywheel problem?
3. If this happens again, what do I need to do to turn the engine enough such that it moves the flywheel? I have an automatic -- I know that it can be push started (or so says the owner's manual) but I'm wondering if rocking or moving it with it in one of the autobox gears actually translates into turning the moter a little if it is at extremely low speed (under 2 mph).
Any comments, suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks Folks!
Scott