Hello,
I'll try to narrow this down as best I can. I replaced my starter like 2 years ago because it was just making that zinging sound. So now my new starter was doing the same thing. I had a lifetime warranty, so I took it back (Advance auto), the guy tested it and told me it was good so he wasn't gonna give me a new one under warranty. Then a local mechanic walked in who my Dad knew, he spun the little gear (bendix?) and said it was broken cause it shouldn't go in both directions. He said it was rough and asked how was my flywheel? I told him its hard to see cause the hole is so small. He then suggested I check my relay cause maybe it was engaging all the time and thats why the gear was worn down((if I remember right the original gear was rough too). Anyway I told the AA parts employee I want my replacement under the warranty, he then gave me the new starter (Upset that he had too) and i told him to give me the relay also. He sold me a solonoid. I searched all over the firewall looking for one and nothing. Then I found this site and saw a question asking where the solonoid relay was located I cannot find the location of the starter solenoid on my ford - JustAnswer So I took the part back and got the relay. It was the wrong one. So I took that back today and got the right one. So this morning (before getting the right relay) My truck was making the zinnging noise again. I tried to click it little by little to try to get it going as i did a couple weeks ago(at that time the replacement starter was 10 days old) but no luck. I ended up killing the battery. I put the battery on charge and went to work. I came home after work and put in another battery after replacing the relay. When I put on the second battery cable, the truck started on its own, It scared the **** out of me. I went to look and there were no keys in the ignition and it was off. i put the key in and turn it on then off and nothing. It turned off when I put my foot on the brake. I tried it with the key and it started. I turned it off and put in the old relay just to see, and it started right up again. So I don't know if this is a flywheel issue, starter issue, wiring, alarm ?? One of the guys at the auto store said he had the same problem and it was a bad connection or lack or power or something like that, but not the starter. Anyone have any idea? I have a key pad but it doest start the vehicle --- only unlocks the doors. This isn't the first time it cranked the engine in the off position. When I killed the battery before --- I got a jump and as I was jumping it -- it was trying to crank on its own. I was still connecting the jumper cables trying to get a good connection. Anyone have any ideas ? Thank you !

 

Could you please supply a little more info.
Year, Engine size, mileage, std or automatic trans,alarm system etc.
Need the info to check wiring diagram .
Sounds so far, like something is engaging /energizing the starter solenoid when it shouldn't and could not only destroy the bendix drive , but could also wreck the flywheel.

 

Hello Hanky,

Thanks for the reply.

Heres the info. Its a 2003 F250 5.4L 225000 miles on body maybe 125k on a jasper replacement engine, auto trans 4x4. I have a factory key pad which unlocks the doors. But no auto start. I am not the original owner. I've had it about 3-4 years. I've never seen any after market alarm stuff anywhere under the hood or anything. I will take a better look today. Its seems like there could be some kind of auto start alarm maybe just by the fact it started on its own. Unless that relay was bad. I'm not sure. I don't know much about electronics. I ran into a guy the same night at AA who was listening to me tell what happend and he had an f150 with the auto start, his wouldn't shut off either with the key once turned on by the auto start keypad, but soon as he hit the brake, it shut down like mine did.

Any other questions, just let me know.

Thanks

 

Somewhere in between the key start position at the ign switch and the starter solenoid there has to be something that is being energized and causing the engine to crank and start. I will try to get the color of the only wire that should be. Any other additional wire tapped in has to be coming from an auxiliary start device. If it were caused by an accidental path due to a wiring fault , stepping on the brake would not cancel it out.

 

Hanky,

Could that be the reason for the zinning sound/reason starter is not working ? Or do I have a bigger issue like a bad flywheel? And second would a bad relay cause it to engage tearing up the bendix gear and shouldn't I hear that if so?

I had to do other things yesterday, so I didn't get to look under the hood, but I will today.

Thanks

 

I'm afraid you may have a bigger problem and that is the flywheel teeth.. What we do to check that is use a mirror and flashlight and check the flywheel. You need to turn the engine over by hand to do a complete check. I'm pretty sure you are going to see some teeth half chopped off. There is one other reason for the incomplete engaging of the starter and that is insufficient voltage to the starter motor solenoid causing it not to engage fully, but the flywheel thing is more likely. Even if you have the flywheel replaced (not cheap), you need to find out why it's engaging without the key going to the start position. If whoever does the job can't find the cause, the best thing to do would be to sever the wire to the solenoid at the ign switch( which could be the problem) and run a new and separate wire to the starter solenoid. That way if there is a wire tapped into that circuit you would have eliminated that possibility.

 

Hey Hanky,

How would I check the flywheel teeth ? remove the starter and look thru there ?

A guy at Advance auto said vlotage also. He said his car was doing the same thing and it was the voltage.

My question is this --- if it was the flywheel, wouldn't it do it more than not? It starts alot with no sounds or issues, then all of a sudden it won't. So I don't know. And if it is a lack of voltage to the solenoid, how do I cure that ? Is it a bad connection ? bad battery ? altenator ?

Thanks
A

 

Here is something you can check.
On the driver's side fender well, under the hood, in the engine compartment, you will see a red cable coming to a junction post. That post connection is covered with a plastic cover.
Remove the cover and check the connection for corrosion. It supplies the electrical fuse panel (smart junction box) . That would be a good place to start.
Some vehicles had an inspection cover that you could remove to check the flywheel .
I do not believe you can see the condition of the flywheel through the small rubber plug at the bottom of the flywheel housing , but it's worth a try. Otherwise its remove the starter time again and look that way.
If it only happened while you were driving, I have had an incident where the driver had a large key ring full of keys that when he hit a bump hard enough it would move the ignition switch momentarily to the start position and the bendix kept hitting the flywheel. You have a small key ring , right?

 

Hey Hanky,

I just received e mail notification for this, but says you posted yesterday at 5 am.

I will check the cable.

Actually, I have a large key ring. I have a place with a couple apartments, so I have maybe 20-25 keys on my ring with a hook latch thing for my belt so its pretty heavy. Wouldn't i hear it if it were enganing the bendix? Would it be the same as if I tired to start it while it was already running? Or wouldn't it be noticeable?


Thanks
A

 

Some info isn't quite clear to me.

Yes you would certainly hear it if the starter were engaging while the engine was running.
The thing that concerns me is that it engages while the key is supposed to be off.
That would point to a defective ign switch that is located under the dash attached to the steering column.
I don't like replacing parts because we just think they are defective, but there is a safety issue here and if anyone were working on that vehicle and it attempted to start the results could be terrible. Until we can get into it deeper, I would replace that ign switch assy, make sure it's adjusted correctly, and go from there if that doesn't solve the problem.