Replaced the starter motor a couple months ago in my 2014 optimax. Everything seemed fine, worked great for the last couple months. Starting Tuesday night it would make a grinding noise when starting, and would usually take a couple trys. Sounded absolutely awful. A couple times an alarm would follow after the engine started (put it on the trailer after that). Took a look at it today with the cover off and just like Tuesday the motor would start but it made an awful grinding noise. Sparks would fly from the starter gear and flywheel as the engine was turning over. Looks to me like it is some sort of alignment issue, but as y'all know the starter is attatched tightly and it doesn't seem to me like there is much room for it to get knocked out of alignment. This is the kind of sound the old starter made before the starter gear broke off. Is there anything I could do myself to fix this? Thanks for the help!

I'm not familiar with this particular motor, but all starters work the same. I would check the bendix on the starter. The bendix is the assembly on the end of the starter shaft that turns the drive gear to rotate the flywheel. If the gear is not moving up and down completely freely, look for any damage (nicks, burs, etc.). You can also lube it with sewing machine oil. The second thing I would look at is the ring gear on the flywheel. Rotate it by hand and look for any damage. If it has a bad spot or two, that may be causing the issue as well.

Thanks for the response. Oil did not work, one spot on the fly wheel was nicked but this deal is happening constantly as long as the starter is turning over. When looking over the flywheel I noticed it was very hard to turn at certain places, don't know if there's anything to that.

Take the spark plugs out and see if the flywheel turns over easier by hand. If not, something is very wrong.

Dumb question, but is the flywheel nut torqued down to spec?

Sounds like the ring gear on the flywheel is damaged. Is why the starter didn`t last very long. Sparks coming off means it`s self-destructing the ring gear and flywheel.

Flywheel is torqued down. I don�t know a ton about this stuff, I�m trying to learn so that I can save money when more minor things go wrong. Not sure how minor this is.

Took a video of what it�s doing, can�t get it on here but one other question. Should the starter gear rise above the flywheel when it�s turning over? I noticed it was doing this when I looked back at the video. Like it�s obviously making contact but the top of the starter gear is well above the flywheel.

Really appreciate the help guys!

If you can get the video posted online (youtube?), I'll be happy to look at it. No, the drive gear should not rise above the flywheel. There should be a stop on the bendix that is perfectly aligned with the ring gear on the flywheel.