Starter/flywheel problem

[Ej46]

Hello everyone



I have a starter/flywheel problem. It doesn’t seem to mesh right. I have tried 1,2 and 3 shims. I have also shimmed just one side, different end caps and still it doesn’t sound right. The car will start but after a while the gear on the starter will bend over and it’s time to call the flatbed to get home. When the starter engages the flywheel, only about 1/3 of the pinion gear goes into about ½ of the flywheel. And the pinion gear is out as far as it can go. Is it possible that someone has put the flywheel on in reverse and that’s why the starter doesn’t fully engage the flywheel? Can it even be put on in reverse? I don't know what else to try.



1976 Corvette

350 L48, automatic



Thank you for any ideas.

Earl

 

[Ken]

158 tooth flywheel or 163 tooth flywheel? In other words, is the starter compatible with the flywheel?

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

have you tried no shims?? i never had any luck shimming a Chevy starter. they always fit best just bolting them up. look real close to see if your mounting holes in the block may be cracked, tat would allow the starter to move around a bit. good luck, Brian.

 

[Hib Halverson]

I want to make sure I understand the problem...it's not that the pinion is too close to the ring gear it's that, then engaged, the starter pinion is not sliding rearward far enough to fully engage the flywheel teeth.

If that's correct, I'd look for a starter that's wrong, ie: the nose piece is wrong. You also could have the wrong flex plate or maybe a problem with the starter drive such that it is not extending all the way.

 

[Ej46]

158 tooth flywheel or 163 tooth flywheel? In other words, is the starter compatible with the flywheel?

it has 163 teeth flywheel and 9 on the starter.

 

[Ej46]

I want to make sure I understand the problem...it's not that the pinion is too close to the ring gear it's that, then engaged, the starter pinion is not sliding rearward far enough to fully engage the flywheel teeth.

If that's correct, I'd look for a starter that's wrong, ie: the nose piece is wrong. You also could have the wrong flex plate or maybe a problem with the starter drive such that it is not extending all the way.

the gear extends all the way. and i have tried a couple of differant nose pieces.

 

[Ej46]

have you tried no shims?? i never had any luck shimming a Chevy starter. they always fit best just bolting them up. look real close to see if your mounting holes in the block may be cracked, tat would allow the starter to move around a bit. good luck, Brian.

yes, the mounting holes are fine. i've tried it with no shims. it's stilll not right. the support bracket is on the front also.

 

[norvalwilhelm]

This is a common problem with bigblocks and something I refused to put up with. A starter drive should move forward , engage the ring gear and then start spinning. Ours starts spinning then engages and only partly. I tried different starters, start drives and they were all the same.
I ended up starting with the aftermarket high torque mini starter and filling in the stock holes in the aluminum block and drilling new holes that mounted the starter closer to the ring gear.
How many guys here have actually crawled under the car and pried the starter drive all the way out to check engagement?????
I have.

 

[Ej46]

This is a common problem with bigblocks and something I refused to put up with. A starter drive should move forward , engage the ring gear and then start spinning. Ours starts spinning then engages and only partly. I tried different starters, start drives and they were all the same.
I ended up starting with the aftermarket high torque mini starter and filling in the stock holes in the aluminum block and drilling new holes that mounted the starter closer to the ring gear.
How many guys here have actually crawled under the car and pried the starter drive all the way out to check engagement?????
I have.

i have also crawled under the car and pulled the drive out into the flywheel and i think it should go in much more than it does now.

 

[wallyknoch]

There is only one basic starter and one flywheel that will fit your application being a small block with automatic transmission. The flywheel will have 168 teeth. Nearly impossible for the parts to be incorrect. Shimming a starter will only increase the clearance between the drive and flywheel increasing premature wear on the ring gear. Normally a wrong proceedure. Some times because it`s only a flex plate they accidently get slightly bent causing a similar type problem your currently experiencing. Easily checked by removal of the flywheel shield and carefully starting the car. Flywheel shims are available in .025 and .050 but are not recommended as it will move the flywheel the wrong way. If the ring gear is already severely damaged, it`s time for a new one.

 

[norvalwilhelm]

I have run into this many times and went to a large starter rebuild shop looking for a longer drive without any success. We are stuck with starters that don't engage properly and unless you are willing to custom make a mount there is little you can do about it. I know a big block that eats ring gears with about 1/3 ingagement. The flywheel ring gear is new for 2/3 on the back side and totally wore out on the side towards the motor.
Other then remaking the mounting block on the mini starts I don't know of a solution to move the starter closer to the flywheel.

 

[Ej46]

Well, i took the starter to a starter shop and asked if they could make the pinion gear come out further and they said no. so he gave me a starter from an older corvette to try. it's not perfect but it does sound a little better than the other one. but now i think i'll have to change the flywheel because it was getting beat up a little from the other starter. by the way this new one goes in about 90% of the flywheel. the other one was doing just less then half.

Earl