Originally posted by red99sesport:
This is from an earlier post I made

If it only grinds sometimes, or a little after the starter is replaced, it's most likely the flywheel. What year and engine do you have? If your car is a V6 that is a 1998 or 1999, and possibly some earlier years then you are most likely up for a fight. I had this problem with my 1998 mystique, and it was a pain. I got ford to fix it for next to nothing, pm me and ask how. Here is a PM I sent to another CEG'r

Hey, this is red99sesport here.

I got your Private Mail, and I try to help as much as I can. First I'll tell you what my car did exactly. One day in December of 2001 I went to start the car, a 1998 Mercury Mystique Duratec V6. It would not start, the starter made a whirring sound, or as you described the same noise the car makes when you turn the key and it's already started. Anyway, it started after turning the key several more times, and holding it for longer than usual.
I thought nothing of it, because it only did it twice in December, and then didn't do it anymore until March. Then it started doing it almost every time I got in the car. I took it to my stealership, they told me my starter and solenoid were bad. They replaced them for $400. After four days, they called me to come and get the car. When I got there, it would not start. Same noise and everything. I was truly pissed. So, I drove the car home, and parked it. Then I went to www.nhtsa.org and searched for a Technical Service Bulletin.
I found one, and took it to my stealership. They took it, and told me no such TSB existed. I got it from the Federal Government, so I knew they were lying. I insisted they check the gear that the starter turns to start the engine. They did, and by god, it was warped. It looked like a potato chip. They replaced it in five days, and for two-thousand some dollars, but Ford payed for almost all of it.

Here is a copy of the TSB, I think you can search by TSB number on the site if you want more.

Make : MERCURY Model : MYSTIQUE Year : 1998
Service Bulletin Num : 6906 Date of Bulletin: SEP 01, 1999
Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:STARTER ASSEMBLY
Summary Description:
EXHIBITING A STARTER GRINDING NOISE AND / OR LACK OF STARTER DRIVE ENGAGEMENT. *TT


I hope this helps, like I said earlier, if you have anymore questions email me.

-The99contour




You have very incomplete information.

Let me see if I can shed some light on this.

First of all, the NHTSB TSBs have absolutely no relationship to any auto makers publications. They are not the same numbers, there is no cross reference, and they are for different purposes. No wonder your dealer was confused. Ford TSBs are issued to give technicians information on repairing cars. NHTSB TSBs are for recording consumer complaints that if they become serious enough or otherwise qualify, may become a recall.

Second, there is a Ford TSB on what you are describing. As I remember it only applied to 1999 and some 2000 Duratecs. I saw it more often in Cougars. It did not apply to 1998 and earlier model years. The TSB says to replace both the starter and flywheel with revised parts.

I have seen an abundance of this problem, but only on 1999 models. I think that it is deplorable that Ford did not step up and turn this into an Owner Notification Program (similar to a recall). But Ford did not.

So tell me, when Ford screwed up in the way they built the car with such a prevelant failure and did not stand behind it, why did you end up being so angry with the dealer? Why are you not angry with Ford?

I'm offended personally when you label all dealerships as stealerships. I know that there are bad ones out there, and I'm embarased for them, but don't go painting all of us that work in dealerships with that same brush. There are several of us that contribute greatly to these forums.

Can you tone down the rhetoric?

I have an idea. I can every evening vent on this forum about the flaky customers that I encountered that day. Like the guy that claimed that he was never called to obtain authorization for front brakes and would not pay the bill. He was shocked to discover that our computor system logged all the outgoing phone calls and that a call for nearly three minutes was logged to his phone number at the time the service advisor recorded on the repair order. He paid the bill.

Would you get tired of a frequent stream of that kind of stuff? I'm sure that I can come up with a more volitile term than "flaky customer" as well.

Jim Johnson 98 SVT 03 Escape Limited