Starter motor / ring gear
When starting my 1991 300GEL W463, I occasionally get a screeching sound. I never experienced this myself in my first year of owing the car and it was discovered by the garage who had it in for service and repairs last summer. They advised it could be ring gears not engaging and the risk of being worn away. They replaced the starter motor and did a visual inspection as best as they could of the ring gear without stripping everything back which would have been even more costly and they thought I might be lucky as they couldn’t see any damage so the new starter motor might solve the issue and prevent damage. However, over the last six months that I’ve had the car back, the screeching sound happens about once a week. Of course, my wife claims it has never happened to her and so it must be something I’m doing...Am I looking at an expensive ring gear replacement and if so does anyone have any suggestions of where to get this done and what it might cost?
The screeching could be due to improper engament of the pinion gear on the starter motor due to a faulty pre-engagement solenoid, lack of lubrication, bad starter motor bearings, or brushes or a a low battery,
Damaged ring gears would more likely cause a grinding noise or a cyclic noise, once per revolution.
Is the replacment starter an original Bosch item or a 'made in china' clone?
A lack of lubrication on the pinion gear or solenoid engagement mechanism might prevent timely disengement of the pinion, once the engine is started, causing a screech as you over-run the starter motor. Also, the recent cold weather will affect your battery if it is not in top condition.
So, there are some other things to look at.
It is possible that the ring gear has wear and the tendency is at some 130 degrees apart or so.
I can recommend a capable garage in Feltham, my cousin; for your information he is NOT a G-Wagen specialist but as I claim capable mechanic. There is nothing special about this job and secondly, I am based in Loughborough - East Midlands and volunteer at a local garage of capable mechanics who could do this job just as well, any consolation, I am usually there.
If your vehicle is a manual and should you go ahead with this element of the job, I suggest to have the clutch set to be renewed at the same time to avoid labour duplication since your current clutch would naturally have wear from service done so far unless recently renewed.
If you are interested contact me.
Note please; I hope the club and members do not accuse me for actively soliciting for work (this is my second offer to help out) as you have asked and I am offering. I only offer to help now and then and do not wish to be inundated with a flood of enquiries until I clear with the garage to advertise on this forum at the prescribed membership as does Gordon, it is only fair on him and courtesy to the club.
That off my chest and conscience.
Thanks for the info. I'll drop you a PM for the details of your cousin's garage in Feltham. Hope this hasn't offended anyone on the forum or committee, but I do really need to find someone reliable closer to me that I can call on!
I have not heard of RING gear failure on a G before, has anyone else? Mileage?
Approx 150k miles. The guy at the G Centre said it was pretty common to me but this is my first G...
I have not heard of RING gear failure on a G before, has anyone else? Mileage?
Yes it can happen; I have replaced three in my time with G's. And a few let by as customers did not want to pay for the expense given the early stage of failures.
If it was never a problem why did you let the garage talk you in to jobs. Since then you have issues
Some starters have different numbers of teeth on their gear. They work but dont mesh properly causing issues like you have
If the engine is switched off with the clutch in or in neutral it will come to rest where it usually does as people have said
Ive seen this before between a family driven car
The male switches the car off in neutral
The wife just rushes in and turns the engine off and lets clutch up a fraction before engine comes to rest
Wife is always in a rush and wastes no time rushing everywhere with shopping and people to look after
So the ring gear is in a usually un used place at engine rest so no problem
Ring gears are cheap but you need to check the starter gear for correct number of teeth to ensure correct meshing
Seen this many times
Piston head said its worth doing clutch at the same time. Yes it is as the box will have to be removed so at least change the plate while its apart. Preferably the cover too and the bearing
Its an easy job so most garages would be able to do the job if you trust them. Its more time consuming than difficult
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Thanks Arnie. The replacement starter was a new Bosch one. I'd say it's a higher pitch grinding noise if that makes any sense! If it's a faulty solenoid or bad bearings, can that happen with a brand new starter motor? The place that replaced it is quite a long way from me (G Centre is Worcesershire because they had been looking after it for the previous owner so I thought I'd try them out...) so it's uneconmical for me to take it back to them so I'll take it somewhere local to have a look and ask for an opinin following your tips (I'm still looking for a local specialist near west London if anyone has any tips woudl be greatly appreciated!)