It will engage and crank, but will not dis-engage. Could it be the plating on the new flexplate? I have cleaned the starter gear with a wire brush to make sure its just not hanging on dirt or rust. Any thoughts?
Just took the flywheel off a working system and put on a flexplate of the same diameter. Right now Im just bumping it over with jumper cables. when there is no power on the system at all the gear still hangs against the flexplate. I have to tap it loose.
Unless the gear mesh is too tight I think you'll be OK.I'm thinking as soon as the motor fires it will overun the starter gear and let it return. Then again,there are a lot of really cheesy mini starters out there too. Can you actually fire the engine?
If you have the Powermaster starter it should have came with a shim which appears to be too thin to do anything but it will likely solve the problem.
<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i71.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/antihuman81/00001-2.flv" height="361" width="448"> the battery is too weak to really get it going.
the shim for in between the mounting block and the starter body, is this the one you think will make it work, or shim it more between the engine block and the mounting block of the starter (I already have two of the thinner shims there).
It needs the starter motor to starter mount shim. That will move the motor & gear ***embly away from the flexplate. You just ran into a different tolerance stack with the different flexplate, no biggie. Good luck.
if you look at the video you can see that its not completely engaging the flex plate, if I shim the starter body back is that going to cause a problem?
Maybe this will help http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/instructions/pro-66256_gear_reduction_starter.pdf
Thanks Broke****, seems more like the second figure is my problem, there is alot more than .040 between the front of the gear and the back of the flywheel, but I seriously doubth there is much clearance at all between the teeth on the gears. I just found it odd to need more than two shims, never had to do that before and I have unfortunately had to put alot of chevy starters on, usually in bad places\positions. That is why I went with the mini-starter its lighter, stronger, and takes less amperage (supossedly).
I've never beeen a believer in that type of starter. There isn't any support on the end and I've heard of too many of these going to hell because of it. The GM/Delco mini starters are somewhat pricey if you buy them from GM but at swaps they can usually be found at a decent price. I've had one on my cpe for 6 years and no problem. It's also what's on my 8.1 from the factory
This is a lifetime warranty part, so im not too worried, would still **** to go out somewhere though.
Not to argue the point, but. What good is a warranty if you are regularly replacing rather than it lasting Personaly I get tired of replacing the same part time after time
If it becomes more of a h***le than its worth then I will put something more reliable on it, Ive only put maybe 1000 miles on it so far.
I don't think shimming between the motor and the starter block has anything to do with this. And if the clearace between the engaged starter and the flexplate is ok, you can not shim any different than you have without runing that anyway. I would have trid to shim between the starter and the starter block. I know some ministarters with that look are too close to the flexplate when they are not engaged. Shim it away from the flexplate as far as you can without decreasing the engange surface between the tooths when you use it. And one more thing: Are you using a rebuilt engine block? Some of those are so hard sand blasted that the very important, flat surface where the starter sits, is out of level or rounded. Then the starter is a little out of level or unstable. I guess that could cause the starter tooth wheel to bind against a new flexplate? Do you use REAL starter bolts with the "jagged" area just above the threads? And with proper length and WITHOUT any washers? If not, change the bolts. Other bolts are too soft and will bend slightly during use (been there, done that). Does the starter wheel goes back freely and fast?
staleg, it is a rebuilt motor, but was not sandblasted, and I am using the actuall starter bolts with the cross hatch on them. If you look at the video I posted above I don't think moving the starter gear away from the flexplate is going to be good, in the video you can see how far away it is already, if I move it forward any more its only going to half way engage the teeth. If I get the chance today I will try to shim it and see where it goes from there.
Well its shimmed, now i got to take it back off and I guess I'll be drilling out one of the mounting holes and putting in a helicoil........ Its the bolt towards the outside, doesn't look like there is much room between that hole and the one for the transmission, Is a helicoil going to be my best option? I thought about trying to run a bolt all the way through and put a nut on top, but id have to notch the block to do that, and Im not doing that.
ok, so I redneck "inginered" a fix for the bolt, now back to the starter problem. I have just over an 1\8" worth of shims in it now and its still catching and staying out on the flexplate, turns over alot easier now but is still staying out, and just in case i tried the shim between the body of the starter and the mounting block as well, still no better, should i go with more shims? this was working with a flywheel of the same toothcount\diameter, why such a big deal? could this new flexplate be out of spec? I even took a wire wheel to the anodized finish just in case it was too think (didn't really think it would help, but i was out of ideas) I engaged the starter then loosened the bolts to where they could be turned by hand and it still stuck, I can tap it a couple of times and it will go back in, I hit the starter without it mounted and it extends spins and retracts, Should I try firing the motor and see if it will let go when the motor starts? I wanted to stay away from that, cause I got to wire the msd box back up, and the fuel pump, and all that jazz.
With a lifetime part... Just start the thing and see what it does. I have a feeling it will pop right back in once the flywheel rolls over itself.
tried a plain no frills, not heavy duty flexplate and 5 shims, works now. I guess the batch of flexplates that Autozone had were just slightly out of spec? I would have thought for sure if the stamp in them said made in china, but it was made in the U.S.A. so go figure....
sounds like yer going the wright direction,if later it wont completey disengage without a gentle tap,it may disengauge when you start it as said befor, you get it dont let it get to you,later cjc
Been There done That Mine required 1/16 shim, add shims until it wont work then back off some Dinked with mine for two evenings to make it work.Have fun! What makes it hard is that almost none of the ring gears are trully round your starter will hang on the high spot.
These starters are a ***** on some of these cars I tell ya. I use a paper clip to shim with seems to be right thousandths and is easy to get into tight spaces. Food for thought the next time
The Jalopy Journal
