so after getting my 350 started and running for the first time it was time to get it dialed in to make it drivable. while we were in the process of messing with the timing, slowly the starter began to sound like it was slipping or not engaging correctly. So i got under there, and it seems as though i have the exact OPPOSITE problem most guys have with their starters. I checked the starter, and it is engaging all the way out (as far as "back and forth" movement) but the set of teeth on the starter, won't come in contact with the flywheel. the FW is a new 168 tooth, and the starter is new as well. none of the teeth are ground off but the very end of them show some bare metal, im guessing when the starter was engaging, it was just barely making contact. so the starter needs to move either in or up, i have no shims in, just the starter. should i maybe get the mating surface on the starter milled down about the thickness of a shim or two so the teeth will mesh? any ideas would be great. im really trying to finish this thing by september.
Line boring won't move the crank that much. There is two different diameter flywheels and two different starter noses, make sure you have the right one's for each other and like meationed above the correct bolts.
Is it the heavy flywheel for a stick ******, or the thin flexplate for an automatic? I had the same problem when I installed my flexplate backwards...The starter would barely make contact with the flexplate teeth..there is a slight recess for the crank flange to sit in..in the center...some flexplates have the recess stamped deeper too. tom
i just put the same starter bolts in that i had before...not sure if they're right though. should i just pick some up from the parts store then?
but if the flexplate was on backwards, wouldn't that just put the starter and flexplate gears farther away from eachother (as in fore and aft?). i'm having trouble seeing how having the flexplate on backwards would result in the starter not even making contact with flywheel (from inboard to outboard on the truck)
theres actually a few different nosed delco starters, try a different one an see if it gets better some times the rebuild ones just dont line up well. when u do get a good match if the starter goes out on u have it rebuilt by an indepent shop so u know you are getting "your" starter back
If the impossible happens, and there is no solution by changing parts to fit- Yes, you can mill down a straight across bolt patterned 'mini-starter' to fit. I had to do it to get a mini starter to fit on my 501 Caddy. 1/8" in my case.
I'll just guess you are using a 1 piece rear main seal block (88-up). I had the same problem on my 89 firebird (305)
I got 2 ****ty rebuilt starters that are doing the same thing you described. The last one I have had has been in there for months with not one problem. It could definetly be a ****ty rebuild.
Shim the outside bolt farthest away from crank. I've seen this a couple times, had an old truck (76 Chevy) that this happened to. You can also try to mill the starter, and start shimming down from there as well. T.R. Steve
Have you counted the teeth on the flex plate to make positive that it is the correct flex plate? Somewhere along the line it may have got put in the wrong box or got the wrong label.
I'm having the somewhat the same problem, I put a new flex plate and starter in feb. now about 5 months later starter and flex plate problems. This is 350 motor and 400 tubro. Flex plate was from a Chevrolet dealer off the shelf along with starter, had to shim it up from the first time I bolted it to the block to check fit.
thats my guess. it did start fine before but looking at these bolts again, they just look like plain old bolts. im gonna go into the parts store tomorrow to get some specific ones and see how that works. thanks man
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