I have a 240 DL wagon (250k) that seems to be eating starters. 2 years ago the original one quit so I replaced it with a non-Bosch rebuilt and it lasted until about 2 months ago. It started to develop an ugly noise and then quit altogether and would just spin (whirring noise). I had it towed to a place and the Volvo mech. showed me how the starter had turned to mush inside. He replaced it with a used, not rebuilt, Bosch and it worked and sounded great - solid, quiet etc. It lasted for a month and then started to make the same grinding type noises. I called him and he said:
a) I could be 'over-cranking' it! I'm not. I do need to replace the AMM but it still starts and is driveable.
b) It could be the flywheel, as in missing teeth etc.
We had the starter out today and he had me run my fingers across the flywheel teeth and told me they were chamfered, but he couldn't find any missing. I couldn't tell because the flywheel was too hot to touch for long.
Has anyone heard of this chamfering before on a 240 or is he trying to avoid saying that the starter he put in could have had a short life? He wanted to sell me another one from a 740 but I don't want to throw more money at it until I figure out whats up. He put the old one back in (against his will) and I know I am on borrowed time. Thanks for all help.

Look at the engagement gear's teeth of the starter. It may be "coned" (leading edge of teeth chipped off) from poor engagement with ring gear. Result will be awful noise as teeth slip while trying to turn ring gear.

I haven't looked at the gear carefully, but maybe it is possible to flip the gear around so that the good square side is available.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans

Trev29, you're right. I did look at the engagement gear while it was on the bench and at least 3/4 of the leading edge of each tooth was worn down from the front heading to the back. I know that lack of proper engagement is making the noise, but why did a starter that sounded very quiet and worked great at the beginning degenerate in just one month? I'm trying to figure out if it's the flywheel (of which I could feel no evidence) or if it wasn't the proper used starter to have in the car.
Is it possible that it was a model for a different Volvo and as such didn't engage properly from day one? Are starters generally interchangeable over certain years?
I'm up to $425cdn so far on starters in the last 2 years, so I really want to nail this down. Thanks for all thoughts.

I think it may have to do with the strength of the solonoid and the travel. If it shoves the gear in strongly and deeply, the engagement is good. Not sure though.

If you have a standard, stop the moment you hear the noise, depress the clutch, release it, then try again.

What part of Canada are you in? Maybe CDN tire has rebuilts? (I get mine from scrap cars.)

My impression is all 240 starters are interchangeable. Maybe 740's are also good.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans

What does a starter that's turned to 'mush'look like? I've seen ring gear teeth chewed 1/4 through from a rotten wire harness intermittently engaging the starter motor when the engine was running and the ring rear and starter still worked ok once the harness problem was fixed. Wonder if your motor's electric connections are corrosion free and tight. The motor runs hot if they aren't. Is there any chance road salt is getting into the starter or wire connections? Is the drip pan in place? Have 300k on 84 with original starter. Took cap off front bearing (2 phillips screws) and packed it with grease years ago and it just keeps going. Yours should to. Good luck!

Steve 3-240s and a 940 with 1/2 po's over heated engine in the trunk

This is the thing that bothers me. I'm mechanically inclined and for someone to tell me that a very slight chamfer in a flywheel (which I couldn't feel) is going to kill a starter seems to me that the guy may be reaching. I cannot believe that Volvo had such a tolerance on the starter/fw relation. This guy does have a good rep, but I can't help but wonder if he is just covering his ass because he doesn't want to admit that maybe the used starter he put in failed.
No, the drip pan is not in place any more so corrosion could happen, but doesn't appear to have. I guess I have to get the big okay on the flywheel first before I do anything else.
Any thoughts?
Thanks for your replys you guys, what a great forum!

More than likly it is the starter but then I am guessing per your information. As someone else said "get a second opinion" It never hurts. About the only thing that will eat a starter is missing teeth, misalignment of the pinion gear to the ring gear, or bad pinion/ringear teeth. By bad I mean visibily bad as in chewed up, trust me you can tell if they are. Metal on metal usually leaves quite a mark..

I picked up a flexplate (with ring gear) for $35 on ebay. Now the time to put begins in my garage. If your into doing such a job and have tools to do this labor, you might want to check on ebay for flexplate. If you just get the gear, which is a press fit, you have to remove the old one from the plate and then heat the new one to get it on.

Sounds like the ring gear on the flywheel is bad. My son's 81 would emit a horrible grinding screech on about 1/3 starts when we purchased it. It gradually increased to 2/3 after 10,000mi and then the starter quit. Mech. said ring gear was worn but not terminal yet. A new genuine Bosch starter and it's dropped to 1-out-of-ten.

The proper cure is a new ring gear, but they are about $150 and the labor to R&R - whew.
--
Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F, dtr's 83-244DL B23F, 'my' 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, hobbycar MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

It is possible for the flywheel teeth to become boogered to the point where it starts to eat starter pinions... they do not need to be missing. The ring-gear comes with a slight chamfer on the teeth to facilitate engagement by the starter pinion but it is slight and you should not feel any rounding off of the teeth.
Is it a "problem" for these models? I don't think so.
Your trouble may have been started by a starter that either did not engage the flywheel properly or had a mis-adjusted/improperly installed solenoid. It is possible (following this logic) that the substitution of a properly functioning starter on an already mashed ring-gear accelerated the doom-day on the used starter.
I'd get a second opinion based on a visual inspection of the ring-gear before I wasted any more money on a new starter. If the ring-gear passes the second inspection, then I'd go for the new starter and hope for better luck.

Mike!