Starter Problems. Not so happy holidays so far :(

[DaGlitch]

Ok so after leaving work today i noticed that my starter kinda grinded when i went to start it up. No biggie. started it up and headed home. So on my way home i thought maybe i would buy some shims to possibly get the alignment right.

Ok so, this starter was rebuilt about 2 months ago and worked like a champ for the first 2 weeks and then started to slowly grind louder and louder each time i started it. Now after trying to shim the starter to proper spacing, it started a couple of times and now doesn't. When i try to start it now, the gear on the starter pops out and just sparks on the edge of the fly wheel. It makes a really loud whining noise as well. My flywheel looks pretty bad. Im wondering as what the cause of this would be? I thought it was the shims, but the spacing looked fine when first installed with out them. Some crappy pics are attached.

Thanks guys.

Sorry for the crappy pics. It's dark and cold as crap outside.

 

[DaGlitch]

Any ideas?

 

[Chief_919]

Did you have the brace on the back installed?

 

[DaGlitch]

Yea the brace on the back has been, and is still currently installed.

 

[Scarecrow1]

It looks like the starter isn't fully engaging .......are you sure it was ever working properly it dosen't take long to chew up a fly wheel . From the pics it looks like it may have chewed up your fly wheel too. It also may not be disengaging fast enough .I would check the TM and part number to be sure of the part number and the placement of the shims ......

 

[DaGlitch]

Yea, it totally doesn't look like it's fully engaging. Yes it was working properly when i got it rebuilt about a month ago. I even spray painted some of the teeth on the fly wheel to see if the starter gear rubbed it off each tooth completely, and it did. Yea the flywheel is now a little chewed up on the corners. I just used universal shims and did proper spacing as per the TM (.5mm to 1.5mm) and mine was at about .7mm of spacing. So i dunno.

 

[DaGlitch]

Added a better quality pic of the starter. Poor thing

 

[mkcoen]

Don't want to steal the thread but I've got some starter problems myself.

About three weeks ago starter gave out on me in town and turned out the casing had broken and either broke a bolt off in the block or vice versa. Bolt was broken at an angle so it took a friend about 3 hours to get a good enough purchase with an Easyout to get the bolt out of the block. I had a 24v starter from an early HMMWV engine (NOS) and we put that in and it worked better than the original, until 2 days ago.

Went to town, raining heavily, stopped at a flag store to pick up a couple of flags for the deuce for a parade this weekend, came out and started fine. Stopped at a C-store outside my housing development to grab something to drink on the way home and all I got was a click. Thought maybe something had gotten wet and had a friend tow me home. Last 2 days still nothing but a click. It's getting juice (click plus a nice sparkler show when I wiggled the lead wire without disconnecting the batteries). Checked the bus bar and getting juice there, checked the 10amp fuse in the fuse block, everything good.

Suggestions??

 

[southdave]

Shims?

 

[DaGlitch]

Shims?

Nope. It was shimmed properly. Pulled out the gear and checked it against the flywheel and it looked fine.

 

[southdave]

In the tm or somewhere i read about the whine and shime packs require for some of starter prior to certain year. Maybe someone memorey will jog about this I think it was poir 84 for then GM chang to mill out the bolting surface on the starter it self

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

Take the solenoid off and see how far the starter gear will go out. Something doesn't look right to me.

 

[mkcoen]

I figured out what was wrong with my starter. It was apparently binding up after all. I took a ratchet and moved the crank a notch and it fired right up. Since this isn't the exact starter for the 1009 not sure what to do about a shim kit. Any suggestions?

 

[DaGlitch]

Yea the starter gear goes all the way out. and covers all the teeth on the fly wheel. So, i dunno.

 

[ssgtwright-usmc]

Their are two bolts holding up the alternator. Check the front one and make sure it hasnt broken inside of it threads. I had that problem, basically the starter was kicking away from the fly wheel due to that broken bolt. Just a idea of something to look at further. Both bolts should be the same size, if not, you know one has broken inside and is being held by 1 or 2 threads.

 

[mkcoen]

Their are two bolts holding up the alternator. Check the front one and make sure it hasnt broken inside of it threads. I had that problem, basically the starter was kicking away from the fly wheel due to that broken bolt. Just a idea of something to look at further. Both bolts should be the same size, if not, you know one has broken inside and is being held by 1 or 2 threads.

That was the reason I had to change mine to begin with. Quite the pain to get the broken bolt out especially as it was broken at an angle. My 1010 will be here next week and it's getting new starter bolts before I even try to start it.

 

[ssgtwright-usmc]

I know the feeling, working upside down looking up and drilling and getting those **** shavings in your eyes. Then using a easy out if it doesnt break on you. Redrill and try again.

 

[mkcoen]

I know the feeling, working upside down looking up and drilling and getting those **** shavings in your eyes. Then using a easy out if it doesnt break on you. Redrill and try again.

It was the angle that was the real killer. Use a tiny bit to get a little purchase and then keep moving progressively larger until you can finally get the easyout to set and then have the stupid thing less than finger tight.

Oh well, valuable lesson learned. At $2 a piece I'll probably just buy 10 of the stupid bolts so I have a nice stock on hand. I'm only buying them from GM also so if they are junk I have someplace to scream at.

 

[ssgtwright-usmc]

I found out that Tractor supply or anyone dealing with heavy John Deers or Catipillars will have these bolts.
And in Grade 8

 

[ssgtwright-usmc]

and their is nothing (easy) in a (easyout)!!!!