I have made a couple posts previously which explained that my Starter Motor cracked off a piece of my engine block (see photo) when this incident first occurred almost a month ago (on my 2001 coupe with 39,000 mostly mild-mannered miles on the odometer).



The new replacement engine (covered by GMPP Extended Warranty) is almost ready to be reinstalled. My concern is that we (the dealership and myself) still have not found ANY cause for this occurrence in the first place? We really thought we might see something fall out between the Torque Tube and the Engine which might have become wedged between the starter gear teeth and the flywheel... but nothing?

The day this break occurred, my best recollection of the sequence of events was... I started by turning the key to start the car while parked on a 15-degree incline with parking brake on and transmission (A4) in park - nothing happened - gauges all lit up and I ran codes (none appeared), but the starter would not fire? This was the first time in over 8 years the car would not start immediately (and new battery, alternator and ignition switch had just been installed a few weeks prior). I turned the key to START again - nothing. I removed the key, reinserted the key, turned it to start and "bang" starter gear engaged and starter motor broke away from the block (starter motor still spinning). Called tow truck.

I am just wondering if there should be anything else we should be looking for before we chance firing up another engine and repeating the disaster? Could maybe the new ignition switch I installed a few weeks earlier have failed to cause this?

Here is what is going back in tomorrow...

• New Engine (including new water pump, oil pump, oil pan, oil filter, iridium plugs, GM red performance wires, etc).
• New Gatorback belts
• New tensioners, idlers at all locations
• New Starter Motor
• Almost New Alternator (2 months old)
• Almost New Red Top Optima (2 months old)
• Almost New Starter Switch (3 months old)
• New EE Insulated Tunnel Plate
• Almost New Rack & Pinion (4 months old)

Just want to make sure this does not repeat as I doubt they will be to eager to replace the engine AGAIN!

Thanks for any insight!

 

I was following your previous posts and even commented in there. Frankly, it could simply have been a failure in the metal itself. Unless you all found something coming out of the flywheel area, there just isn't much else that could have bound it up like that enough to break it. Starter motors are very powerful. Happy for you that you are getting a new engine. Do the break-in properly of course and first oil change during the break-in. A lab specializing in metal fatigue could probably tell you for sure what happened to it, but since GMPP is paying for this, its their engine now. Don't worry about it.

 

At some point, you are just going to have to trust the expertise and knowledge of the guys you have working on your car. I'm sure you'll be fine.

 

Well, the dealership finally got the engine back in and fired it up this afternoon. So far so good We tried starting it about 10 times and no starter problems presented themselves yet.

Should have the car back tomorrow.