[V8] Starter Question

[cobram at juno.com]

Repair it YESTERDAY.  I did a "CSI" of why V8Q #1 got the Alfred E Neuman
syndrome http://www.geocities.com/cobramsri/EngineTool.html , and traced
it back to a bad starter.

Here is part of the original post:  

"Well, I've FINALLY gotten around to changing the flywheel (flex
plate..whatever) in V8Q #1.   She's been sitting for almost a year. 
First thing I did was pull the starter (BOY, was that rear bolt FUN,
thanks alot for that one Hans.) No surprise, the flywheel had the Alfred
E Neuman syndrome.  But WHY?  Fellow Qlister Jeremy got me
thinking.....how could #1 son had "started" the car when it was already
running, if Audi ignitions won't let you make that mistake?  Fuel
Pressure regulator wasn't more than a few months old.  During the summer
(car had already been dead several months) I had pulled the plugs to do
some other checks and shrzzzp, it sure sounded like I had stripped a few
more teeth as she cranked over.
 
The culprit seems to have been the starter!  I took the starter to a
re builder, and he showed me the huge amount of distance between the hole
of the bendix teeth and the shaft.  According to him, this play could
cause enough of a cocked mating to the flex plate teeth to take chunks
off of them.  I'd never seen this before in a V8Q, but, I always seem to
be that guy hits all lotteries with the ridiculous odds...only the prizes
suck. ;-)"

BCNU,
http://www.geocities.com/cobramsri/
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