Every once in a while when I go to crank my truck in the mornings, it sounds as if it was already cranked. You know that nerve racking noise you get when you turn the key over and it's already cranked.

Is my starter about to say bye?

I don't think it's your starter it sounds like your flywheel is missing some teeth.

My truck is getting a new starter tomorrow because it does that all the time. We'll see if that fixes it or if it needs a new flywheel...

Probably starter related. My guess is the solenoid is going bad, but since all the new starters are one piece units you have to get the whole starter. When the solenoid starts to go bad it can engage the flywheel teeth only partially or engage late which will cause the flywheel to lose some teeth. Hopefully for your sake, and your pocketbook, it hasn't stripped any teeth yet.

There are a couple starters for sale in the marketplace here but most likely will be the flywheel.

i would have to say starter mine did it probaly twice in 2 years then within a 2 week period it did it 4 times replaced the starter have yet to hear that noise again.man looking at the flywheel teeth and thickness i would say it would take alot to take some teeth off of that:eek: .starter fixed my problem have the trans out right now and the flywheel looks great.just my .02cents

I've had that happen twice now. Sounds like the Bendix hangsup.

In the past on my older vehicles, it has been teeth missing from the fly wheel.

Well so far it hasn't done it with the new starter, but only has 5 starts on it so far. It was doing it every time before...

Well so far it hasn't done it with the new starter, but only has 5 starts on it so far. It was doing it every time before...
Did you put the starter in yourself? If so did you look at the flywheel while you had the starter out? I am curious if the teeth showed wear and or damage. Either way I'm glad to hear it's fixed.

good to know its stopped but that doesnt mean no teeth on the flywheel have been damaged. and as tough as things look there more brittle than ya think. if you have time take a look under neath just to make sure.

I didn't do it, figured the truck has almost 31k I'd let the dealer touch it once...
If it starts doing it again then I'll assume it had lost teeth already. So far so good though.

I've seen this thread before, we're not alone - I've had my truck for 2yr/42,000mi and what was once an occasional (embarrassing) grinding occurrence now happens several times a month. Funny thing is it will do it 5 times in a week and then I won't hear it again for two or three weeks. It's been to 2 different dealers who both provided the "it starts fine for us" bulls**t so now I figure screw GM - every time it does it I crank it until it times out (about 5 seconds) and then I grind it again and again until it starts (takes 1-8 grind cycles). It'll probably strand me at the most inconvenient moment but I don't dare fool with a tow truck until I know darn well that it won't start when they haul the POS to the dealer.
Love the truck, just wish that reliability had been one of the features on the window sticker. The 100,000 mile warranty that I bought feels well worth it these days.