I have a '96 Dodge intrepid 3.3L. I just changed the starter but when I took the old one out the metal spacer came out with it. I put it back in with new starter now when the car running I hear a noise from starter area like the fly wheel is rubbing something. Any ideas thanks.
The new starter may have a faulty solenoid, a faulty Bendix gear or you need to add another shim or two. The starter housing may be a different size.
remove the starter now, before it does too much damage. that shim may not have been required.
just looking at the starter should be an indication of the problem.
where the wear spot is should hep you decide whether it needs shimming, less shimming or if the tooth is chewed up, from the ring gear being damaged from the old starter.
you don’t mention it, but under what conditions/reasons was the starter replaced? was it making noise? was it not starting properly? what were the symptoms?
if you left the old starter in too long it may have irreparably damaged the ring gear on the flywheel. when you remove the starter, look in the teeth of the ring gear. bar the engine over to inspect the whole way around. hopefully the damage is to the starter end.
The old starter had a dead spot in it so it took 3 to 4 trys to start the car. The car is running when it make that sound not just when it starts.
just so you understand. the starter is a throw away item. the ring gear/flywheel is huge money to repair, fix. get the starter out of there asap or you may have a huge repair.
i understand that the sound is there when the car is running. that is why you should REMOVE the starter NOW; before it does any more damage to the ring gear. you may have done NO damage to the ring gear at this point. all the damage may be to the starter. but if you keep driving it with the grinding noise you are probably making more damage.
the sound is metal to metal grinding. once you get it apart you can observe where the wear is, and that would help figure out what needs to be done to get it to stop rubbing. do you still have the old starter? that would be a help to put them side by side to physically compare them.
it is possible that you may eventually “grind away” the offending piece of metal in the way, and it will quiet down. but what if it is grinding something expensive other than the starter?