Starter Problems (killin' me!)

Find and install the old transmission. Give your brother back the trans and tell him no thanks. Start your car. Drive your car. Relax. Obama will just write another check.

Eight was from Tuesday? Wot duz this mean? Mikey

 

i had a prob like this .mine would broke the starter off the motor .you could hear it hit the headers when came loose.my torque converter snout was hitting the back of the crankshaft.this would cause the flywheel to flex and the teeth would be out of alignment causing the starter to break.i put some 1/8 washers betweeen the flywheel and the converter...never had a problem again....

 

All starter nose housings are not the same for the SB 350. There are so many variants that when you get a "Podunk" brand starter, you have no idea what it came out of. So be careful on the mix and matching of starters and blocks. I've had to shim very, very (did I say very?) few Chevy starters, none in fact when I was able to keep the original starter that came with the block.

Bob

 

I take all the above in consideration, but when you go get your new starter (you may have to go to a small independent dealer) get one with a cast nose. Sorry I don't have part no.'s

 

HAMB be praised! I went to NAPA today and bought the super hootie small high power starter. Five minutes later I'm crankin' like Courtey Love! Other than the sound of my newborn children, nothing sounds better than a starter that doesn't go KABAM! Thanks again for helping a hotroder out. Now I will need to buy a new battery as I was using the smaller one from my Model A that is mounted in the bed. I will have to wait until I get my allowance and buy the matching super hootie battery.

 

Well here's an update. About 20 cranks on the new NAPA mini starter and it broke. Started making that same "KABAM" and gave up on me. I went back to NAPA and the owner said that I have to come back with the block casting number. I'm not sure what difference that the casting number would make as the flywheel has been replaced. I also see that the block is starting to crack where the starter bolts to it. Man this sucks. I have to take the starter back today (monday) with the casting number and the owner said he would hook me up with a new one. Why the hell would it crank fine 20 times in a row and then give up on me? I'm running out of plan b's...

 

Why would it crank 20 times.....Because you still haven't got to the root of the issue, which is if the engine itself is turning over hard, or if the flywheel is out of round, etc

If you mismatch the flywheel and starter, they grind or don't engage at all. You cannot bolt the wrong size starter on and start the car without some kind of freakish rig-job involving a shim stack.

The starter is only a SYMPTOM. More starters won't fix the problem.

Something to look for....has somebody drilled your block for one of the starter holes you're using? Many early blocks lack one of the 3 holes found on later blocks, and if somebody had to add the 3rd hole, and drilled it a little off....

good luck

 

The definition of "insanity" is doing the same thing over & over and expecting different results.

The starter isn't the problem, something else is.

 

Take the solenoid off of the starter and manually engage it into the flywheel. It should engage easliy without hitting. If it doesn't, do as suggested above and shave the starter mounting. I had this happen years ago on the 283 that was in my 57. Drove me friggin nuts. Sounded like a screamin banshee but would start, then other times it would brake the nose and atleast one of the mounting bolts. Finally shaved off a little at a time and it never gave me a problem. Good luck

 

Thanks for the input. I'll go ahead and admit that I don't know what it means to Shave the starter mounting. Could you explain how to do that? What needs shaved and what is the best way to try? Would shimming have the same effect? The timing seems to be pretty close and it runs well when I get it started. I took off the distributor cap and don't see any binding anwhere. The battery is fairly far away from the starter (it's in the truck bed) I'm willing to try a bigger one. It's not too big but seemed to have enough guts before. The old trans went free to a good home on craigslist so there's no getting that back. I agree that the grinding starter is a symptom but I'm really frustrated and (admittedly) not all that smart. I'll put the next one on and make sure that the starter and flywheel are properly alligned. The flex plate is new from Shucks and I don't see any obvious warping. I'll try the bigger battery as well. I'm almost willing to shave anything to get this thing running.

 

Step one, forget the battery and the cables and all electrical shit. They're working good enough to break your starter and the block. That's plenty good.

Step two. Know the old saying measure twice cut once??? Quit talking about milling the starter flange, you have no idea how the gear fits up. You have to engage the starter gear and see with your own eyes how it fits up. You have to measure clearance with something like a paperclip. This is REALLY hard to see in most assembled cars. Don't be suprised if the exhaust or something has to come off to gain line of sight.

Step 3, depending on results of step 2, you might mill or shim.

This is all depending on if the problem is actually at the starter. It still might be a hard spot in the engine/trans, or even a bent tooth on your flywheel. You really haven't covered enough of the basics to really know what's happening. Turn the engine over by hand and do a thorough inspection. Throwing parts at it may have already ruined the block. So be real thorough with troubleshooting before you definitely ruin the block.

good luck

 

All the advice about shimming the starter does not say how to measure for clearence between the gears of the starter and the flexplate.
The next time you try a astarter be sure to check the clearence between the teeth of the starter gear and the flexplate gears. Get a skinny scrwe driver and stick it in the opening where they mech and pry the starter gear until it meches into the flexgear. You should be able to at least get a paper clip between the high point of one gear tooth and the vally of the engaging gear.
I had a lot of trouble with a sbc when changing starters. Ended up shimming the starter down. Get the proper shim off a carousel at NAPA. \

Another problem is wrong size bolts . They must be starter bolts. With a knurled area near the threads. This makes sure that the starter is lined up properly. You can't just throw in a couple bolts from the hardware store.

Also be sure the are correct thread There are american stantard and also metric. Don't over tighten as you can crush the aluminum nose cone.

BTDT

 

Pull the engine and throw it away. Replace it with a MEL. Problem solved

 

O.K., lets look at this from another persective. Is it possible the engine is hydraulically locking? Either fuel, or coolant getting into the cylinders and you get a wicked MEAN clunk and the engine stops turning since it cannot compress the coolant.

Pull all your spark plugs and look closely at them for moisture, discoloration, whitish grey buildup, anything like that. If it all comes up good, pull all your spark plugs and crank the engine and see if it sounds normal with no compression. reinstall the plugs and leave off the wires. Crank it again and see how it sounds with compression and no spark.
Now do a compression test and see how your readings look.

I believe the timing of this with the transmission change is coincidental.

Undo the torque converter bolts and slide the converter back into the trans as far as it will go and start it. Don't run it too long as you can scar the hub on the converter, its not meant as a bearing/bushing in the back of the crank but for short bursts it wil lbe fine and if you hear a little squeel noise dont panic its just the converter hub against the back of the crank, just dont run it long.


Hope some or all of this helps. I'm hoping its not a blown headgasket but I have seen them do exactly what you are talking about.

Scot

 

I'm an old starter rebuilder and I'm loving this thread---used to run into this stuff all the time---don't blame the starter--or keep thinking it's the problem---your starter was working before right?---you changed or screwed up something--theres lots of advise here---hell--I can't tell you how to fix your problem -before you waste more money and time fixing your starter,you had better see what you did wrong--and quit giving you money to napa for a cheaply forgein built rebuilt--find your local rebuilder

 

I bet the distributor cap is either cracked, or the cute little carbon rod that contacts the rotor is broken off.

I did the same thing in my olds a few Years back. mallory distributor. just bumped the cap enough to fracture the post, and it would either kick back HARD or run fine. weird.

 

So for a quick update. I have a new built "race car" starter. The only race car thing about it is the price. Anyhow, I was able to shim it backwards a bit. It, so far, has worked really well. No hint of a KABAM. I'm hesitant to say that it is fixed forever as I have been bit before. Anyhow, thanks again for all of the replies. Hopefully I will see some of you on the road. YEEE HAAA!