Could it be you have a alternator or a water pump bearing going out? If you have one locking up it will make a noise and could put a lot of strain on your starter and possibly keep the engine from turning while trying to start?? I have seen this happen on cars but never on a cummins but I would think it would be possible. That does not explain your pump problems but it might be the noise you hear

 

The shop put another fuel injector pump on it. He said they put their test pump on, which is hardly used, in order to get it back to me sooner. I've only driven it a couple times and the code isn't back. It might take a few more drives for it to come back -- I'll wait and see.

Last night, I took my starter off and took the motor apart and cleaned everything. The contacts and brushes are good. When I put the starter back in, it still had the hard starting problem.

There was some metal dust in the starter port, but I'm not sure if it was more than should be expected. The gears on the starter turned nice and I didn't see any problem with the visible part of the flex plate (that's what is turns, right?).

Then I took the belt off and found all the pulleys to spin smoothly.

I guess the starter may still somehow be weak and we're thinking about buying a new starter. Otherwise, I guess we would need to take the transmission off and look at the engine?

 

I put the new starter on today and it started amazingly fast. I guess there was something wrong with the starter. I also wiped all the battery terminals for the negatives because they were covered in grease at the contact points. The started I got was a brand new Denso on eBay for $120 with free shipping.

 

The squeal just came back. It's probably the main pulley on the engine. Does it have bearings or what? Would it be tough to fix? I still think the resistance is hard on the starter.

Also, my brand new starter was clicking (solenoid working) but not making contact tonight!

 

drolex: your liberal "theory only" educators have let you down. hands on education is much more reliable. Your starter is connected to the whatever logic is not used by real technicians. In addition the hands on educated understand engines well enough to make noise to problem decisions. Why don't you just take it to a technician and get it fixed. I'm sure you make enough to afford the repairs in your non mechancial job?

 

Are you talking about the guys on this board or my engineering professors? My professors are not "theory only". They work on real and important projects to research and develop new things for large companies and the military. They are not liberal either. In my experience, shops suck and they will do anything to get more money. Of course, there are some good ones somewhere, but I'm not a money spending fool. I like to have the knowledge and fix my own stuff.

 

Have you checked the idler pulley to see it the bearings are OK?
A weak spring or a bad bearing might cause your 'squealing'.

As for the bad pump issue.....
You wouldn't be the first on this board to have a pump croak a month or so after it was installed.......... some haven't made it THAT long.

 

you may have got an denso clone for 120 off of ebay but if it is a genuine denso it is stolen!!