Yooper-Al

Thanks for the tips FTFM. My ground cable is correct, it is on a bracket under the top starter bolt, nice and clean. Positive cable is nice and clean too. Battery cable ends are clean and clamped well. When I write that the starter drive spins easily in both directions, I mean that when they start out as new, they rotate (slip) in one direction only and driving the starter motor when spun in the opposite direction. Just like the (literally) hundreds of correctly working starter drives I have messed with over the years. Once I've made a trip with the car, the drive gear slips in both directions. I have ruined the clutch of these starter drives. Once I have ruined the new starter drive by driving a bit, and I remove the starter, I can actually hold on to the starter drive gear as I put power to the starter terminal bolt and jumper it across to the solenoid terminal. The solenoid will kick the drive gear out like it is supposed to and the starter motor runs. When not powered, the starter drive is retracted in the starter, not sticking out like when it is powered up and the solenoid is engaged.

I'm still having problems with my starter. Must be something simple that I'm not seeing. The problem above turned out to be a bad starter drive (Bendix) that would turn easily in either direction. Ok, I got a good used starter for the '95 2.2 manual transmission. Put it in and it worked fine. I drove it around a bit and shut it off (about 20 miles from home, of course) and experienced the same problem: engine won't turn over and the starter just clicks and spins. I trailered it home and pulled the starter and found the same problem, the starter drive spun freely in both directions. So, I had a friend install a new starter drive while I was out of town. Then I reinstalled the starter and all went fine till I was about 30 miles from home and it would not start again, just clicks and spins. I yanked the starter out and went to Autozone and got a $100 rebuilt starter. Installed it, but this time when the engine started, I could definitely hear bad noises from the starter, like the drive was still engaged. I pulled the wire from the solenoid and the noise continued. I contacted a friend who suggested shimming the starter from the bellbousing with a washer on the top and bottom bolts. Tried that and it was of no help. Gave up on it as it was way past dark last night. So here are a few thoughts: It acts as if the starter drive is already meshing with the flexplate gear when I install the starter. I don't know if that is the case or not as I have not gotten in there and measured anything.Could that be? If the drive is constantly engaged with the flexplate, it would make the starter drive get hot and crap out eventually. Also, the upper bolt seems about 2 1/2" longer than it needs to be. The lower bolt seems about right. Have I forgotten some housing or adaptor that would justify that upper bolt length? When I swapped out the old flywheel/clutch etc. for the flexplate, I do not remember any shims etc. to go between the flexplate and crankshaft, only a plate that went between the flexplate/crank bolt heads and the flexplate. Could I have the flexplate bolted up backwards? Am I using the incorrect starter (auto trans vs. manual trans) mistakenly? It seemed as though there was no way to install the auto trans starter on my engine. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

I swapped the EJ2.2 from my '95 Brighton (manual transmission) into my '98 Legacy Outback (auto transmission) a few days ago and am tying up a few loose ends. After a few starts though, the starter quit engaging. Got good clicks and it spun, but would not turn over the motor. I pulled it out last evening and found when powered up and with power to the solenoid, the starter drive will pop in and out like it should and the starter motor whirls away, but I can hold on to the drive gear without it turning. My first thought was the starter drive (Bendix) but I guess it could be the gear set too. Anyway, I have the starter that was originally in the '98 (automatic) but I notice that the flange that bolts to the bellhousing is "clocked" a few degrees different from the manual transmission starter and it will not bolt up. Can I easily swap out the starter housings and use the good starter motor/gear set/drive? I see replacement starter drives are $200 online!!! Thanks for any help. Yooper-Al

Thanks for all of the good ideas! I came to the right place! I always use Valvoline or Castrol, so I don't think oil quality is a problem, unless I'm just wearing-out the oil additives. I use them coffee filters too (Percolator?). Until my last oil change (almost 3k miles ago), the motor used abut 1 1/2 quarts of oil between the 3k mile oil change intervals. I've always watched the oil level because of that. When I change oil and add the 4.2 qts that the manual recommends (with filter), the oil level on the dipstick shows, what I would judge to be, about 3/4 quart high. At the last oil change, I added a can of CD2 "black label", (old hillbilly trick) which is a thin, concentrated detergent; not a viscosity improver like STP. I thought it might help clean it up inside. I brought the oil level back up to ¾ quart high. Strangely, I have used very little oil these last 3k miles, less than 1/2 of a quart. But still, the tapping came back at about 2500 miles since oil change. But then, I did not bring the oil level back up to ¾ quart high either. I think I'll put a can of MMO in her this evening, overfilling her by that much, and see if anything changes. If it does, I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing. If it doesn't, I'll change the oil and filter in a couple of days to Delo 20w-50. The days are hot here (95-100 degrees) anyway. If the ticking comes back in 2500 miles, I'll try Seafoam for a few minutes, then change the oil again. Thanks again for all of the good ideas!

I've had my '95 Legacy Brighton for about 1 year now and it has 240,000 miles. I put on about 2000 miles a month. I try to go 3000 miles (75% highway) between oil changes but a lifter (maybe two) starts ticking at around 2000 miles when the motor is warm, at idle through 1500 RPM. I use a good 10w-30 in the winter and 10w-40 in the summer per the owners manual recommendations for our seasonal temps here in New Mexico. I hear about folks using Seafoam (I'm not convinced about that) and Marvel Mystery oil (don't think it could hurt) to help clean up the lifters, but I'm wondering about just using a thicker oil. Maybe even a high detergent like Delo (for diesel and gas engines in hard to severe service) to clean up the insides. Maybe 2000 miles between oil changes is all I can hope for from a motor approaching 1/4 million miles. Any thoughts? Once a month oil changes are not too appealing, although I can do it without jacking up the car. Thanks in advance.