Was towing about 7K trailer last week. Going down the road it would buck a little, and jerked slightly when accelerating or going up a slight hill. When I go home I shut it off unhooked trailer, and all starter would do is spin and not engage. Crawled under the truck and the starter had come loose from the bellhousing. One of the ears on the starter housing broke. Put a new starter in it and same thing. I looked and the ring gear on the flywheel felt good, but couldn't see it while under the truck. Trans was shifting just fine. Could it be the clutch? I am second owner of the truck with 170K miles and I'm pretty sure it's original clutch. It's never pulled much, but I was pulling trailer empty at about 1300 pounds and it was fine, but as soon as I loaded it all this started to happen, in the same day. Should I pull the trans and see if it's the clutch or something else?

Thanks

Mike

 

Maybe a pilot bearing starting to sieze up?

 

I can't see a clutch causing the starter not to engage all of the sudden. Same with the pilot bearing. Those would cause poor shifting issues. Pull the starter out and make sure the pinion is extending when you spin the motor. Its possible you got another bad starter.

 

I took the starter in and had it tested, no problem. Also, the front driveshaft won't freewheel, and it's like it might be stuck in 4 wheel high. Not sure as I thought maybe the shifter was out of adjustment, but checked it and everything seemed ok. Any other ideas before I start taking everything apart? I'm gong to put the starter back in today and see what happens.........

 

Front driveshaft could be the CAD not disengaging.