wth is goin on?
 

about every 2 to 3 weeks i need to change starters. 383 chevy, 350 trans. in a 53 ranchwagon.put a new starter on the car, no shims. car sounds good when it starts.then in a few weeks. bang. i hear grinding and gear banging into the flywheel. check flywheel. tight and no cracks or worn teeth. check convertor tight. check trans. tight.change starter. sounds like a brand new car.this has happened 4 times.if it needs shims how come it doesnt show up for a few weeks.run it that long now it needs shims. why?ive been under the car when my son starts it. no wobble, nothing seems out of place.but on one sterter i decided to let it bang a few more times hoping to be able to find problem(hoping also i didnt bust a flywheel) instead it busted the nose off the starter.put a new one on and it sounded like a new car.why will this thing start so good for awhile then start grinding and or bangin.change it and new car sound?BOYS I NEED HELP ON THIS ONE. i mean this thing sounds GOOD for awhile then here it goes and ive checked EVERYTHING i can think of!! HELP

ok outlaw just throwing things around, but, have the starters been
rebuilts from autozone? i had problems with a water pump and
a altenator like that and then bought a NAPA altenator and it fixed
the problem after the 4th replacement, and went to the salvage
yard and bought a gm factory water pump and it ran great,
other than getting under your car to check it out, thats my 2 cents
good luck bud :wink:
i remember when they used to sell repair kits for starters

Starter
 

Does the ring gear have chipped or broken teeth? Is the starter shimmed?
Here is a site that shows how to measure for the correct shimming.
http://www.powermastermotorsports.co..._GMMiniSta.pdf
Hope this helps.

NO AUTOZONE STUFF HERE.these all come from a real parts house, name brand rebuilder.did i mention i dont have to pay for these?thank god, id be BROKE!i sold parts for almost 25 yrs. i can remember being able to buy every part inside a starter piece by piece. ive checked every part under there 2 or 3 times ring gear first. but even if a tooth were missing, it would hit that spot as it turned over. and way before a few weeeks.boys this one has me stumped.i called a friend of mine and told him whats up and he laughed and hung up on me!

I would check for runout radially the next time you have a starter on it. Raise the car turn the motor over and watch it. If it has runout it will load the starter real hard in that spot.

Curtis

Hey outlaw, do you think this 383 justifies a high tourque starter insted? I agree w/ doorracer too, but I am through w/OEM starters... does it have more compression? Scoot

i have thought about that scooter.but man i sure would hate to buy a HIGH DOllAR starter and have it do the same thing!!when i would use stock type sterters on high comp. engines they would start to drag after a very short time, but it seems im headed in that direction.i just thought that if it was a compreession problem that it would take out the armature or bushings first from the overheating of the starter not make it sound like its one there sideways.i think ill take the starter off the nova tomorrow. thanks guys for the help.

Sounds to me like Scooter is right on. I know on the older JCB forklifts the OEM starters will work fine for a week or so then blow apart just like you described. Change to an aftermarket high torque starter and it never happens again. I use a Power master ( and 16 volt battery) on my BBC and no problems at all.

You may have already done this, but before you pull the starter off that's giving you trouble, climb under the car and see exactly what the problem is. Check the engagement, check to see if the starter has moved/shifted since it was first installed. Another thing are you useing starter bolts with the knurled body, or are you useing regular 3/8" bolts. If you are useing regular 3/8' bolts the starter will definately shift after a few starts. Starter bolts (knurled) have a .390 body dia. VS a .375 dia. on a 3/8" bolt.

Just looking :idea:

Zip.

zipper your idea got me to thinkin about the bolts. i went out to check and they are knurled.i sure was hoping they werent!. the stlye of starter that im using is for early 70s high hp sbc.ive use this kind of starter for years on some engines when room wasnt a issue.ive taken the starter off our nova and put it on the ranchwagon. i dont temember the brand but i sure remember the price!!!!.HOPE THIS ONE DONT GO SOUTH!! thanks guys for all your help. i really appreciate everyone trying to help.it means alot to me ill let you know how long this one lasts.now i gotta come up with one for the nova. ouch. thanks again ken

maybe someone mentioned this before but here goes.. have you checked the clearance between the starter teeth and the flywheel teeth ?..take a set of needle Nose pliers and pull out the starter gear and see how far in its meshing with Ring gear. If your getting in too deep there could be a bind not letting the starter gear retract properly causing the damage you mentioned..if your starter has the least little movment after running for a while it could cause the mis-alignment also

Ok now for completely off the wall. I had a Dually with Big Block and ran into start problems. even chewed up a flex plate it got so bad.

I got it started and took it to my roomates shop (I was tired of messing with it) his guys changed the flex plate and then put it all back together. started it a bunch of times and they thought it was good. then it would act up. Took it back, needs shims blah blah blah. well his guy who thought it would need shims, had about a max of .125 in there and still no help, it would barely engage.

I left them the truck to figure it out. One of the mechanics Dad who is a smart old guy, was in on a Saturday and the guys were bouncing ideas off him. He comes up with this solution .. put a 3/8" washer on the outside bolt and then tighten the inside bolt 1st and then the outside bolt. start it and try it.. the starter sounded perfect. The problem is that the starter to too far away from the flexplate. To fix it properly take the starter out and file the mating surface between the starter and the block flat. You really cannot take too much off because you can always put a shim back in.

I had the exact same thing on two different 400s.

hey bjuice!i did that before i ever even thought about starting it up. the one time i didnt the damage was awful.(another car also years ago). i dont just bolt one on and go. i like to know where every thing is sittin BEFORE i crank it up. so far you guys have been great. throwing possible solutions at me and believe me ido appreciate each and everyone of them. well its back outside time thanks again sir. ken

Use a steel paper clip. The diameter is exactly right to set the clearance between starter teeth and flywheel. You will probably need to shim it to get it just right. Force the starter end out with a screwdriver and push the paper clip (Unbent) into the gap between the flywheel and starter teeth.

The voltage thing is spot on too. If you have a bad earth or positive you're gonna find out with the starter. I stripped the teeth of a 572ci flywheel trying to start it with a half dead battery.