I bought this van about 4K miles ago.
From the beginning when "starting" the starter had problems:

  1. 1 It would occasionally whir without engaging the flywheel, then
     suddenly drop into engagement
  2. 2 Upon prolonged cranking, it would jump out of engagement

Lately it did #1 without engaging consistently, until I had it out and a
shop went through it .
They replaced the solenoid, but could find no other problem.

I thought maybe it was the wrong flywheel, but it has 132 teeth with a
pressed on gear, so it seems to be the correct one.

could the starter gear be wrong? it has 9 teeth

Someone thought it could be out of alignment, but I think that's
doubtful; the pins around two of the engine/trans bolts hold that
alignment, and the starter is solidly in its hole.

Any thoughts would be appreciated; feel free to reply directly.

TIA

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