Ford Repair: 86 sable, flywheel teeth, sisterinlaw

Question
hi, sisterinlaw has 86 sable that has a starter that maked a grinding noise and the car will not start. Sounds like when you try to start your car when its already started. Is there a way of starting the car so she can get it home?.
Thanks

Answer
Ken, you can push start it only if the transmission is a manual... automatics don't work that way.
It sounds like either the starter drive or the flywheel teeth (or both) are stripped.  If you can turn the engine a little bit by hand (grab the belts and turn it just a few inches) you may get lucky and the starter will engage on a different tooth of the flywheel.
If that doesn't work, you'll need to remove the starter and get a look at the teeth, turn the engine to see all the teeth on the flywheel... if there are three in a row damaged, the transmission will need to come out to replaced the flywheel.  If only one or two are damaged, you might get by with a starter drive.
Hope this helps..
Clay