Flex Plate replacement advice needed

[stranger75]

The latest development in my long and annoying saga of starter trouble is the awful grinding noise that has just begun to occur when starting my m1009. I have not yet removed the torque converter cover to inspect the flywheel for damage, but I would not be surprised to find gnarled or missing teeth. I imagine the starter bendix could also be damaged, and may be the cause of whatever is happening down there.

The -34 TM states that to replace the flex plate (TM calls it a fly wheel) the transmission must first be removed. I have never done this, and am unsure of myself in attempting to. I remember reading in a post somewhere on here that you can disconnect the transmission and slide it back? without removing it entirely? Could somebody point me in the right direction as to how this is achieved?

I'm sure someone will ask why this grinding has started to occur, so I'll give a little back story. I replaced my starter awhile back with a 24V gear reduction starter. I have had a lot of trouble in shimming this starter correctly. I must have tried every combination of shims that I could think of, and still deal with this issue. My quick and dirty remedy to free the bendix from the flywheel has been to turn the crank from the front of the engine with a breaker bar. Has repeated use of this quick fix damaged the teeth of flywheel and or bendix?

What I know I need to do is have my direct drive starter rebuilt, re-install that, and then I think I'll most likely have to replace the flywheel as well.

 

[o1951]

Pull the conv. cover or starter and check the flywheel teeth - that will tell you what you have to do. Maybe not as bad as you think.

 

[gungearz]

Got the same problem on my burban... Not sure but I think the chevys are proned to "warped" flywheels do to syntriphical (think its spelt wrong) flex. Flywheels are pretty easy to do, just time consuming. Drop the driveshaft, pull the starter, disconnect all tranmission hoses and linkagaes, unbolt it at the tranny cross member, pull the flywheel inspection off... With the key off, slowly spin the motor till all (I think 5 or 6) bolts are removed on the torque converter and flywheel, un bolt the tranny from the motor (support motor first), then slide the tranny back on top of the cross member (about 5")... Now, flex plate (flywheel) is exposed... Dismount and reinstall new flex plate... Then reassemble in that order.... Hope that helps....

 

[Warthog]

In addition to the above imstructions many guys will install 4" to 6" bolts in place of the regular bolts and then slide the tranny back. Makes aligning everything easier.

 

[doghead]

Have you checked the gear engagement as outlined in the TM?

 

[gungearz]

In addition to the above imstructions many guys will install 4" to 6" bolts in place of the regular bolts and then slide the tranny back. Makes aligning everything easier.
Great idea... That wouldve made the job a hole lot easier. If I did that, the job probably would've been an hour faster or more.

 

[mobileauto2000]

Gm uses a 163 or 153 tooth gear ring. You say this happened after changing the starter. Could you have put on the wrong starter?

Original starters had the bolts ether straight across or staggered so you would not install the wrong one. But this dose not always hold true.

If you put on the wrong starter you would not be able to shim it as the teeth are binding.

This will cause a loud deep growling sound when cranking.