Cat D4D, 83J01988. I have a noise from my starter when shutting off the tractor. I removed the starter and found the fork arms had bent and thus released the gears to engage the flywheel. I spoke to my starter motor company and he says the forks don't bend and that the engine must have a problem and or its 'kicking back'. Anyone have an idea about what the problem could be? Bryan
True, the forks don't normally bend but if the solenoid is fighting the release of the starter pinion, pinion release as driven by the ring gear is going to win. There is also an adjustment involved for pinion engagement. You need to get this fixed or you risk tearing up the teeth on the flywheel ring gear.
Thanks old magnet, yes i changed the starter to a rebuilt one, problem solved.