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Chewed up Flywheel... $1400 to fix?
AbsoluteZero
The new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered User regular
The new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered User regular
So my car has been making some high pitched squealy sounds when I start it lately. It's a 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier.
I just took it in to get the starter checked and... I was told I have a chewed up flywheel, missing some teeth. I was quoted $1400 for a new flywheel, starter, and flush the shit out of the transmission. Apparently if I don't get yet another new starter the mechanic says the new flywheel will just get chewed up again, not sure if I believe that.
Well that starter is pretty new, just got it put in less than a year ago. I don't really see why they should have to pull the transmission and put in a new starter, though really my knowledge of cars is limited.
What do you guys think?
I just took it in to get the starter checked and... I was told I have a chewed up flywheel, missing some teeth. I was quoted $1400 for a new flywheel, starter, and flush the shit out of the transmission. Apparently if I don't get yet another new starter the mechanic says the new flywheel will just get chewed up again, not sure if I believe that.
Well that starter is pretty new, just got it put in less than a year ago. I don't really see why they should have to pull the transmission and put in a new starter, though really my knowledge of cars is limited.
What do you guys think?
AbsoluteZero on
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You generally don't have to remove much to replace a starter, but you do to replace a flywheel.
It still sounds like alot to me, but I don't know much about those cars. Get an estimate from another mechanic and you'll feel better. It's gonna cost you a fair bit to do the job though.
I'd look up the value of your car, and see if it would be more profitable to junk it and buy another one.
Also from my experience from watching them try to fix it, it depends on how much damage was done to the starter, and most of the cost is the labor on the tranny.
Definitely get another quote though.
The mechanic's probably right about needing a new starter to go along with the flywheel. If the teeth are destroyed on one, they're going to be destroyed on both. Replacing just the flywheel and not the starter means you'll just ruin the new flywheel. And starters are, all things considered, fairly cheap. But it's the same reason when you're replacing a chain on a motorcycle, your smart bet is to replace the sprockets as well. Parts mesh together and when you replace just one, you end up ruining both parts.
It never hurts to shop around, but off the top of my head I'd say $1400 for the job isn't unreasonable, anyway. But you might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere.
Anyway, if the starter wasn't properly installed the first time, it would have damaged the flywheel. The flywheel has a ring of teeth around it and those teeth sync to the little gear on the starter. If the starter isn't shimmed or lined up right, the teeth won't mesh up and damage will eventually occur.
The teeth on the flywheel may have also been damaged before, damaging the first starter. Why was the starter replaced the first time? Did they say anything about the flywheel having problems before?
How'd this guy check the components? Did he pull shit apart, look at it, and then put everything back together? Or did he just stand there and listen to it make noise?
Do you have trouble starting the car at all? Is it an automatic or a manual transmission? You could just not care and drive till it breaks. Or just sell the car. The parts to fix the problem aint too expensive, it's the pulling everything apart to replace em that's the problem. Replacing a flywheel's a pain in the ass.
Thanks for the input, guys.
if you're willing to take risks, you can just buy a starter and swap it in yourself... it'll die again in a few months, (or weeks, depending on the condition of the flywheel)
Bottom line, $1400 is a crapload of money for the fix, but considering they're going to have to drop the transmission and axles to get at the flywheel it's going to cost a lot no matter what. I'm not super familiar with Cavaliers, but work it backwards - new flywheel is maybe $150, starter is whatever (I'd buy a good used one and just inspect the teeth and provide that to the shop). Even if you spent $200 on a brand new starter though, that means he's still charging you $1000~ for the repair. If he's charging 80 an hour, thats 12.5 hours labour, a bit less if he's going to also charge for a flush of the transmission (which in this situation you won't need, as the flywheel is completely seperate from the transmission, same with the starter, so unless you're having shifting problems don't waste your money and just take 30 minutes to swap fluids yourself. If he argues chunks of flywheel are in the transmission and it needs "flushing" he's assuming you're a moron/uninformed).
Anyway, my point is that 12.5 hours for a tranny re&re is retarded. My very first time (very first, like sitting there with a book checking everything I'm doing) I did an older volkswagen start to finish in 6 hours. It's not hard work.
Shop around. Ask on the phone how many hours it'll take to change a transmission first, then start getting quotes for the flywheel. Call up LORDCO or whatever kinda parts place you can find and get the parts yourself from there.
Or, you know, just don't replace it. It's not going to harm anything at all, and you can always push start it
PSN - sumowot
Different cars have very different procedures to accomplish the same task. It takes maybe 8 hours to drop the engine in a Mazda 3, yet in my MR2 it takes about 21 if I remember right. Shopping around is always good advice, but you're comparing apples to oranges and if the OP isn't well informed about vehicles he may end up thinking EVERYONE is trying to shaft him because of that advice.
But basically just go to a few mechanics and if you think its worth it (car is reliable etc) go with one that you seem to trust. Be sure to tell them the whole story, as many people here were saying, you're kinda in a circle of shit in your car killing each other.
The whole point was that the jobs aren't comparable because the cars can be so completely different.
Maybe I should have mentioned that my brother owned a Cavalier for a few years and I poked around in there enough to know it's not a 12 hour job.
PSN - sumowot
One more question for you guys though....
How long do you suppose a car with a chewed up flywheel will last? From what I understand it's only missing a few teeth so far... I'm hoping it will last me until I can get a replacement car, granted I drive it only when I absolutely need to. Anyone had experience with this?
Only take it when you absolutely need it. Don't go way out far and find out you can't get started again.
I drove a car with a flywheel that was missing a few teeth for almost half a year... i replaced the starter 3 times (free replacements, guaranteed by the mechanic)... the 3rd time they realized it was the flywheel and replaced that too but mine was closer to $600 all in
if you don't mind the possibility of getting stranded ( i did 3 times, the starters always died in the pouring rain, dammit) it's not that big a deal
if the car is a stick shift, you won't even get stuck, since you can push start it
The reason he is recommending you flush the transmission is because once it's already apart, it's trivial to flush the transmission and it's likely the car is overdue anyway. It's just good preventative maintenance.
Also, as connected parts wear they wear into each other. Back when cars had clutch fans it was recommended to replace your water pump at the same time if your clutch fan froze, since the clutch fan was driven by the water pump. Same thing with the ring around the flywheel and the starter motor. If one breaks, the gear on the other is likely to be damaged.
Also, by a trained ear or an interested hobbyist, discerning a problem with a car is pretty easy. The different mechanical interactions sound different even when they break, plus there is the location and the circumstances that cause the breaking sound. The mechanical parts of engines aren't very complicated.
So in all, no, to replace a starter you don't have to remove the transmission. To replace the flywheel you may have to. At best you have to remove the transmission from the brackets that hold it and either lift it or lower it so there is room to remove the old flywheel, align a new one, and bolt it in. Go to your local auto parts store and leaf through a maintenance manual for your car. It's an easy way to find out how much effort it takes to replace the flywheel. Or you know, get a second opinion to see if it confirms.
What I wouldn't recommend is sitting on it and hoping your car works when you most need it.