starter won't engage flywheel-02 grand am

[Bad Habit]

Ok, my wife's car without any prior notice just wouldn't start last night. The starter would turn over rapidly, but you could tell by the sound that it did not engage the flywheel. I checked the cables between the battery and the starter- all are tight and in good condition to the eye. I put a battery charger on it and starter still won't engage. I pulled the starter and took it to a parts store and it passed on there machine. Again, all cable connections between battery and starter have now been taken apart and put back. No corrosion, the cables look fine. Starter still won't engage. I even tried the put the key on accessory for 15 minutes as i have read on this forum in many places. Any ideas or do you think the starter could just be bad even though it passed a test?

02 grand am
4 cylinder
automatic

[MagicRat]

The problem is strictly mechanical, and likely not electrical.
Possibly a gear tooth or two has been knocked off the flexplate. When the old starter is removed, look closely at the flexplate teeth and make sure they are all there, especially exactly where the starter motor is located.

If the old starter motor is still installed, you can test this by manually rotating the engine crankshaft an inch or two, then see if the car will start.

If the flexplate teeth and starter motor gear teeth are all good, the problem is (most likely) inside the starter itself. The little gear on the starter motor drive is supposed to move forward and engage the teeth on the flex plate (or flywheel) when you turn the key.... and then withdraw when the key is released.

If there is something wrong with the mechanism that moves the gear forward (often it's a "Bendix drive"), then the starter will spin like crazy, yet not start the car.

Replace the starter motor and you will be as good as new.

[91goldbomb]

had this problem with 2.4 cavalier bench tested the starter spins and engages however the gear starts to float thus not hitting the flywheel buy a new starter should fix your problem