I've been going through different rebuilt starters left and right. When I put the new(rebuilt) starter on, it starts good for the first 5-10 times. After that, it just gets louder and louder and give me troubles. The flywheel seems to look good, theres no metal shavings or wear to be seen. Am I ruining starters or just the solenoids? It makes a loud noise but not so much a grinding noise anymore. I almost makes me fear of starting the car anymore or working on the car anymore.

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
350/TH350
Undergoing Resotoration

malibu man, there are two basic things that are important to the life of a Chevrolet starter when you install one. First, the rebuilt and the new starters I have seen from most auto parts stores come with instructions and a small gauge pin to properly set the spacing between the small starter pinion gear and the flywheel/flexplate ring gear. You must use starter shims to make adjustments if necessary. The shims are available in the Help! section of most auto parts stores.
The second thing is a starter brace. On 99% of the cars I have seen it is always missing. It supports the heavy end of the starter by attaching it to the side of the block. They are available new from GM for around eight dollars. While you're doing this, get a starter heat shield from GM also. Sorry I don't have the part numbers handy. The Chevrolet parts counter guys should have no problem finding the right ones or maybe someone here knows the numbers off the top of their head.
Without the starter brace the starter gets twisted out of alignment while cranking and can ultimately break the aluminum housing in half.

Good luck,
Louie Hammel

Thanks for the reply. I've been getting rebuilt starters from Auto Value. The brand is "Ampere". Whenever I replace them, their doesn't seem to be anything visibly wrong. Their is no brace on my car, haven't heard of such a thing. Is a heat shield a good investment?
Thanks

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration

Trevor, you'll probably need a heat shield (at least) if you're running headers. If you're running stock exhaust, you won't need one.

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My Web Page (http://www.landry-family.com) (updated 05-22-02)

"Chevellabration Bound!"

Chad Landry
TC Member #643
ACES Member #4556
'68 El Camino, 357, L31 Vortec heads, 700R4, 8.2 10-bolt, 3.55 gears, Auburn Pro Posi.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by malibu man:
. Their is no brace on my car, haven't heard of such a thing. Is a heat shield a good investment?
Thanks

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

As the previous post has said, most of the cars have had them removed when the starter was replaced. I am just as guilty. The first time I changed the starter on mine about 25 years ago, I never reinstalled the brace. It's a pain with the exhaust system in the way, but I still have it and will put it back the next time I'm under there. Keeps alot of "twisting stress" off of the starter.



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MalibuJerry350
TC Member #1279
Original owner '70 Chevelle.
580,000+ miles on car.
Hey, if it's got wheels, DRIVE IT!
My Chevelle: http://hometown.aol.com/erie614/myhomepage/index.html

Do I need a heat shield for both the starter and the solenoid? Where can I get that front bracket at? Is it good to invest in a mini starter? What are some of the benefits?
Thanks

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration

malibu man, sorry, didn't mean to leave you hangin' for two days, I just forgot to check back to see what you had decided to do. To answer your most recent questions:

The Chevrolet starter heat shield covers the solenoid which is attached to the starter; they're not separate so only one sheild is needed. The brace gets attached to the forward facing end of the starter. The starter WILL work without the brace, but, for eight bucks, it's cheap insurance for a stock-type starter. You can find them at any Chevy dealer.

Mini-starters are great. They do what they're supposed to do very well. The cost begins at around 120 dollars and goes up (sometimes way-up!) from there. These starters typically use a smaller, lighter motor that spin at high rpm and use a gear-reduction drive to increase the torque. They usually also require less cranking amperage (electrical power) than the original factory type starter you are probably staring at. Some exhaust headers run very close to the factory-type starter and cause lots of problems. The smaller, more compact design of the mini-starters allow them to live in place of the original, factory-type starters.

Before you install yet another starter, check your flexplate (assuming you have an automatic trans). With the inspection cover off (it covers the torque converter) and the GROUND cable DISCONNECTED from the battery, have someone else turn the engine with a big breaker bar while you watch the flexplate rotate. Use a bright light and look for cracks where the flexplate attaches to the crankshaft. Flexplates are prone to cracking and sometimes only make a lot of noise while cranking. A cracked flexplate can also destroy starters.

Hope this helps,

Louie Hammel

Where is the inspection cover located? I'm thinking about getting a CVR Mini Starter from Jegs.
Thanks

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration

Its the pan that covers the flywheel held on by four small bolts at front of tranny. I have a 68 with the same problem you are having. New flexplate, 4-5 different starters, added brace, checked clearance and still could not get it right. Finally went to a steel head starter and never had another problem.

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Steve Strasemeier (70SS 396, Fathom Blue/White Stripes)
My 70SS (http://www.members.home.com/txss/sshome.htm)

What to I all have to do to replace the flexplate? Or, do you think the mini will fix the problem? It's downright embarrasing enough to not have fenders on it let alone having the starter gring.

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration

malibu man, IF you think you need a new flexplate, you must first remove the three bolts that attach the flexplate to the torque convertor. CAREFULLY slide the torque convertor back all the way into the trans until it stops (about a half-inch of travel). There is a very slim, long box end wrench that I think Snap-on sells for reaching the six bolts that attach the flexplate to the crank. Don't use an open end wrench or your hands will resemble ground up meat. With these bolts out, the flexplate will slip out (sometimes with a lot of side-to-side wrestling and prying). Pay attention to which side of the flexplate goes against the crankshaft, they're not symmetrical.

Get a NEW SFI approved flexplate that is approximately .063" thick. They're thicker and stronger than the stock one, they're Pioneer brand, and cost around 65 bucks through Jegs.com. Invest in new ARP flexplate-to-crankshaft bolts and ARP convertor bolts. It's cheap insurance while you have it apart.

Good luck,

Louie Hammel

Sounds like too much work for me.

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration

Don't you have to take the engine out to replace the flywheel?

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration

A flexplate can be replaced with the engine and trans bolted in to the car. The torque convertor will slide back just enough (after you remove the three flexplate-to-torque-convertor bolts and nuts) to allow you to get a special slim box end wrench in there to remove and replace the flexplate attaching bolts. With the old flexplate out just put in the new one with NEW ARP crank-to-flexplate bolts and NEW ARP torque convertor-to-flexplate bolts and nuts.

Good luck,

Louie Hammel

Thanks. The flexplate is the same thing as the flywheel right?

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration

malibu man, technically, when you have manual transmission it uses a clutch disc, a pressure plate, and a flywheel. A flexplate is used only with an automatic trans. Your signature lists a TH350 so I'm assuming that you have a TH350 automatic trans and, thus, a flexplate.

A couple years ago when I bought my '71 El Camino, EVERYTHING was wasted and unreliable. My plan was to make it safe and dependable before making it pretty. I rebuilt the TH400 automatic trans, replaced the flexplate, flexplate bolts, convertor bolts, starter, heat shield, and starter brace. After correctly shimming the starter to specs, it has been absolutely flawless since. Before all this I never knew if it was going to start or not. Lots of scary noises. Now it just simply starts. Everytime.

Keep askin' questions and usin' your head. You'll get it right. I'm sure of it.

Good luck,

Louie Hammel

Thank you very much for all of your support!! My CVR mini starter should be coming in today. It's supposed to have different mounting positions or something. How would I know what bolt hole to use? I think there's supposed to be several holes to slide it closer to the flexplate or something.
Thanks

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration

malibu man, your new CVR starter (I'm jealous 'cause those are nice starters) will have two possible positions to use for mounting it to the engine block. Of the two, you will use the outer position. The inner position would only be used for early manual transmission Chevrolets that had 153 tooth flywheels. Yours is a 168 tooth flexplate.

Good luck,

Louie Hammel

The only way that I can get it to bolt on is with one inner and one outer, because the starter gear wouldn't go on the flywheel and it hit against the oil pan. I've got to find a way to get it around the transmission cooler lines so I can have the solenoid on the bottom.

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration

[This message has been edited by malibu man (edited 06-06-2002).]

[This message has been edited by malibu man (edited 06-06-2002).]

Kinda wondering how your supposed to check for shims because I can't even get the gear out. I've got indentations from the flexplate gears all over my hands trying to get the gear out with a screwdriver. I need a heavy duty magnet only attracted to starter gears. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif LOL

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration

I took the scatter shield off below the torque converter and flexplate and that helped me shim it. First I tried it with two shims. It still looked like it needed more. I put the shield back on and hooked up the starter. Tried starting it and the gear on the starter engaged on the flywheel but never returned to the starter. Darn. So I figured I needed more shims. So I found some that came with a previous starter. I put both of them on thinking that they would solve the problem. Bolted the starter back to the block. Cranked it over. Starter engaged but just hit the flywheel instead of going on the gears. The extra shims made it worse. I though to myself, " I just defied the laws of shims." LOL I thought by adding shims it would increase the clearance between the starter and ring gear. I am using the outer hole on the driver side of the starter mount, and the inner bolt on the passenger side of the starter mount. What can I do to make the starter get farther away from the ring gear?

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration

ttt

Try and cut one of the shims in half to only shim the outer bolt and see if that helps.

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Tino #28 Gold
72 Malibu 350-300,700R4
83 Grand Prix LJ 305

Alright.
Thanks

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration

Hello all!

I am NEW to this forum as of today and sure am glad I found it!

In regards to the "Starter problems", I am much in the same boat, and HAVE been for quite some time now.

I have a 1972 Chevelle s.s./ 402 / 400 turbo auto./ NO headers / purchased in 1972.

Here is my problem:

With LESS than 1,000 miles on a complete engine and tranny rebuild, I have JUST installed yet "another" new flywheel(third one) and another new starter(forth one), which all seemed to work just fine for the first 6 or 8 times of turning over the engine.

Afterwhich, this "grinding" noise, which SOUNDS like a high spot on the starter ring gear.

In my LAST attempt to resolve the drive to flywheel "grinding" problem, the OLD flywheel(which had NO road miles on it)had a chewed out spot on it, which told me something was out of round.

I then purchased (another) NEW flywheel, had it machined "checked" for a perfect circle and balance, installed another rebuilt starter, using the "pin" to set the clearence. No shims were needed.

This worked out just fine (again) until about the 6 or 8 try, afterwhich the problem returned.

HERE is my question:

After experiencing the SAME problem again, with only about 6 or 8 trys, IS IT TOO LATE to install the starter BRACE as was posted on this forum?

This "no" starter brace @ the front of the starter HAS to be my (on-going)problem. Am I right?

I thought about that brace but instead opted for a mini starter.

I'm back with the news. One shim made the starter gear lock on the flywheel. No shims also made it lock on the flywheel. Does a mini starter have that much of a difference in alignment compared to a stock-type?

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Trever Maas
1972 Chevelle Malibu
Mohave Gold
L65 350/M38 TH350
2.73 AXL RATIO
Undergoing Resotoration