starting problem

[Russ]

My 1998 Discovery will not start on different occasions. It is after I have driven it and stopped to go into a store and I come out and it will start but not continues to run. I then leave it for an hour and it starts. This does not happen very often but is getting more frequent.

[bajabill]

HELLO DISCO RIDERS,,IS IT COMMON FOR STARTERS TO FAIL IN THESE 4.0 I PUT 2 STARTERS IN ALREADY SEEMS LIKE THE STARTER WORKS HARD,,THANKS

[bajabill]

RUSS SOUNDS LIKE YOU SHOULD CHECK SPARK FROM COIL,YOU MIGHT HAVE A WEAK COIL??? TAKE A SPARK TESTER AND CHECK IT NEXT TIME IT HAPPENS ??;)

[joshua.mcguoirk]

Hello All:

This is very crazy thanks to the Prince of Darkness. I was having intermittent starter related issues. Most times the starter would spin but not engage the flywheel. So, I suspected the bendix gear. This was the original starter to the vehicle that is both a daily driver and an off-road tank.

I opted for the Mean Green Starter. With its smaller size, and higher torque I figured I couldn't go wrong. After 1 month my symptoms have returned. On occasion I attempt to start the vehicle and again the starter spins but does not engage.

What I have diagnosed thus far...

1. Removed inspection cover to transmission bell housing and physically rotated the flywheel. All teeth present and accounted for.

2. Replaced ground to engine and ground to frame with 00 welding cable with a set of military post clamps from pull-pal.

3. Cleaned ground strap at the rear most engine compartment from engine to frame.

4. After doing some further research it was suggested the spider was bad. Doing further research stated that the NAS LR's do not have a spider.

I am stumped with this intermittent problem. Any suggestions?

[Hammer38]

Check the crank position sensor. Common failure since oil & coolant from head gasket leaks seep into the sensor over time. Oil also gets into the starter from leaks, so they do fail often.