mysterious starting problem M1009

[maritimer]

ok so i was driving down a backroad to my girlfriends fathers place, its one of those dirt/gravel roads the township grades once a year and doesnt touch it the rest of the year and well since the grounds starting to thaw here and the snows all melted *read lots of mudd water and rutts* its like driving down a wash board for about 5 miles. anyway one the way back we hit a couple of puddles that soaked the windshield and roof and when we stopped at her brothers place and shut the truck down when we left it wouldnt start at first it would click but not turn checked the voltage and the batterys where fine so i figured maybe wet connections so i let her dry *the truck not the girlfriend* for about 15 minutes and sent the girl friend out to start it and she fired right up but then this evening it did it again but i hadnt gotten it wet. any thoughts one what might be causeing this. also for the past mont hevery odd once in awhile when i go to start the starter grinds like when you try to start a running engine.

 

[doghead]

Check your starter, see if it's falling off. Loose or broken bolts? Is the support bracket there?

 

[maritimer]

i will do that as soon as the g/f gets back from work *she uses it as her daily driver for the time being LOL*

 

[acetomatoco]

Don't grind her too much (the M1009), or you will be in need of a new flexplate.

 

[mangus580]

Sounds like your starter is loose... providing a bad ground and grinding both.

 

[CCATLETT1984]

either that or your starter has a bad bendix and is not throwing the gear out far enough to mesh with the flexplate, or the nose cone on the starter is now cracked and its deflecting enough not to spin the engine. Pull the starter out, to check for cracked housing/ messed up gear. then be sure to put it back in nice and snug (dont crank on the bolts, use a torque wrench). I would get a new set of bolts from the chevy dealer, they are a special "starter" bolt, as they stretch with age. Be sure to re-attach the brace on the forward end of the starter, to avoid broken bolts in the future.

 

[maritimer]

well i crawled under her this afternoon when the girl friend came back from work, and yup one bolt was loosetightened her up and check the rig over looks like i am missing the support bracket on the front of the starter so i will have to hope the chev dealer can order one in for me * last thing i had to get them to order took an hour just to find in there catologs*