turning over the engine

[Orville Lehmann]

i have a vehicle with worn teeth on the flywheel. automatic transmission will the engine turn over when in gear and pushed or pulled ????

 

[bgunner]

If it is a 60's model then most likely yes but advances in torque converters do not allow this to happen. When in gear the torque converter spins fast enough to engage the clutch plates in the transmission. Because the torque converter is bolted to the flywheel it will not spin and wont allow the plates to press against one another keeping the wheels from forming a connection to the motor.

 

[bgunner]

you are in for a flywheel replacement and at minimum replace the starter main gear. This is the cheapest route if doing the work your self or replace the starter if sent to a garage. Make sure if there are shims needed between the starter and block there are there and the proper thickness. This will ware the teeth down and chew up starters.

If there are only a couple bad teeth then you may be able to turn the motor over a little with a breaker bar and socket on the front balancer bolt to get to good teeth and possibly spin the motor past the bad spot while cranking. WARNING this is a stop gap measure to get you where you are going and not to be done all the time.