I had trouble starting my car a 2 weeks ago. Found 2 bad glow plugs. I the process the starter quit cranking the engine and just started to spin when i would turn the key over.

Got the car towed and replaced the starter and all the glow plugs. Tried to start a few times and it would crank and die (i did open the fuel lines to replace some o rings) After only 5 tries the new starter is spinning and not engaging the flex plate. Maybe broken flex plate teeth? Any easy way to turn the front crank by hand to move the flex plate?

UPDATE

Tested the old starter with jumper cables. It would spin fast but the gear would not spin. You could hear it spinning inside the main housing of starter.

Don't know if I got a bad starter or if something in the engine is causing the starter to break. I cant imagine how that is even possible

 

From what I have read it is possible to get a poorly rebuilt starter from the regular Autopart places.
The suggestion has been to get only Bosch Rebuilt ones or have some local Starter Rebuilding place do the job as they would be more concerned about putting out a good quality product.

But, as you said you need to turn the Engine over by hand to see if someting is hanging it up.

 

I think I might have caused the starter to break. I kept pushing the gas while i was cranking it. It is a habit to do that to clear out flooded gas burners. I think the extra work could have caused the starter shaft to break.

 

I guess that is possible but the the Gear part of the Starter is supposed to have an overruning clutch, meaning it will turn only 1 way. Also if it was still engaged it would have made a lot of noise.

 

could have just been a bad starter. Will find out when the new one comes in tomorrow.

 

On my Volvo Diesel and 2 other Vehicles I have owned I had a situation where the Ring Gear was worn and had metal burrs sticking out past the normal thickness of the teeth. The Burrs were preventng the Starter Gear for reaching the good part of the teeth and there were some areas worse than others.

I filed the area flush like it was supposed to be and in all cases the Starter worked
again.
Did this x2 on Chevys and ounce on the Volvo.
However, In both cases the Ring Gear Teeth were accessable by removing a bottom sheetmetal pan that covered the lower part of the Bell Housing. Mercedes only has a tiny opening on the bottom compared to the other cars.

 

Ive noticed the mercedes access hole is small. I tested the old starter and it spins inside the starter housing but the gear doesnt spin or move. I will take the replacement starter out and examine the flex plate ring gear.

 

guyger3 i have a 74 240d and my starter will just spin sometimes i've noticed with mine it does it when it's cold outside like 20 or below i didn't know what to think but it. It always starts the car sooner or later after a pull or two on the starter ****. i had my starter rebuilt last summer this is the first winter with the rebuilt one and it still does it. so please infrom me if i can make this problem go away and if i find out anything i will let you know. Thank you

 

I just had a bad starter, replaced it and it was bad out of the box. Replaced again and it starts like a champ