The 86 240 has decided that it wants to be ornery in the cold. I sure would appreciate any input on this problem, it has me skunked.
Whenever the ambient temps drop to lower than about 35 degreesF, the starter does not want to dis-engage, or dis-engages too slowly and grinds the flywheel teeth. It turns the motor over with gusto, and she fires up just fine, but the colder it gets, the longer it takes to dis-engage and the worse it grinds.
It did this a couple of times last winter, but was fine all spring, summer and fall. When it started doing it as the temps fell, the first thing I did was swap out the original starter for a pick and pull special I had waiting in the shed. Didn't fix it. The ignition switch was getting kind of sloppy after 19 years, so I figured that the contacts were worn and old grease inside was gummy, so I installed a new one. Nope, no change. Lubed the key tumbler with graphite, no change. Swapped out the positive battery cable, and replaced the wiring from the grey pillow block to terminal 50 on the solenoid. Nope. Pulled both starters ( original and p&p special) apart, to check for bad pinion spline or clutch or sticky solenoid etc. Had them both in a 0 degree freezer, and then bench tested. Both tested fine. Gave up and bought a re-built starter. It turns the motor over a little faster, but still grinds when cold. All voltages have been checked and are good, and have done voltage drop tests on all wiring and cables. The battery is 2 years old, fully charged and load tests good.It only grinds on the first start of the day, after sitting all night in the cold. The rest of the day it is fine. And it is fine if the temps stay over 35F or so. I checked the condition of the flywheel at the last starter swap, and it has a couple of bad spots, but overall it looks OK. Other than the old girl telling me that she wants to go south for the winter ( I agree!), has anyone had one do this? It is a new one on me.
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Gary Gilliam Sumerduck VA, '94 940 na Regina 160k '86 240 190k, 93 Camry 4cyl 5spd 245k