wth is goin on?
 

about every 2 to 3 weeks i need to change starters. 383 chevy, 350 trans. in a 53 ranchwagon.put a new starter on the car, no shims. car sounds good when it starts.then in a few weeks. bang. i hear grinding and gear banging into the flywheel. check flywheel. tight and no cracks or worn teeth. check convertor tight. check trans. tight.change starter. sounds like a brand new car.this has happened 4 times.if it needs shims how come it doesnt show up for a few weeks.run it that long now it needs shims. why?ive been under the car when my son starts it. no wobble, nothing seems out of place.but on one sterter i decided to let it bang a few more times hoping to be able to find problem(hoping also i didnt bust a flywheel) instead it busted the nose off the starter.put a new one on and it sounded like a new car.why will this thing start so good for awhile then start grinding and or bangin.change it and new car sound?BOYS I NEED HELP ON THIS ONE. i mean this thing sounds GOOD for awhile then here it goes and ive checked EVERYTHING i can think of!! HELP

ok outlaw just throwing things around, but, have the starters been
rebuilts from autozone? i had problems with a water pump and
a altenator like that and then bought a NAPA altenator and it fixed
the problem after the 4th replacement, and went to the salvage
yard and bought a gm factory water pump and it ran great,
other than getting under your car to check it out, thats my 2 cents
good luck bud :wink:
i remember when they used to sell repair kits for starters

Starter
 

Does the ring gear have chipped or broken teeth? Is the starter shimmed?
Here is a site that shows how to measure for the correct shimming.
http://www.powermastermotorsports.co..._GMMiniSta.pdf
Hope this helps.

NO AUTOZONE STUFF HERE.these all come from a real parts house, name brand rebuilder.did i mention i dont have to pay for these?thank god, id be BROKE!i sold parts for almost 25 yrs. i can remember being able to buy every part inside a starter piece by piece. ive checked every part under there 2 or 3 times ring gear first. but even if a tooth were missing, it would hit that spot as it turned over. and way before a few weeeks.boys this one has me stumped.i called a friend of mine and told him whats up and he laughed and hung up on me!

I would check for runout radially the next time you have a starter on it. Raise the car turn the motor over and watch it. If it has runout it will load the starter real hard in that spot.

Curtis

Hey outlaw, do you think this 383 justifies a high tourque starter insted? I agree w/ doorracer too, but I am through w/OEM starters... does it have more compression? Scoot

i have thought about that scooter.but man i sure would hate to buy a HIGH DOllAR starter and have it do the same thing!!when i would use stock type sterters on high comp. engines they would start to drag after a very short time, but it seems im headed in that direction.i just thought that if it was a compreession problem that it would take out the armature or bushings first from the overheating of the starter not make it sound like its one there sideways.i think ill take the starter off the nova tomorrow. thanks guys for the help.

Sounds to me like Scooter is right on. I know on the older JCB forklifts the OEM starters will work fine for a week or so then blow apart just like you described. Change to an aftermarket high torque starter and it never happens again. I use a Power master ( and 16 volt battery) on my BBC and no problems at all.

You may have already done this, but before you pull the starter off that's giving you trouble, climb under the car and see exactly what the problem is. Check the engagement, check to see if the starter has moved/shifted since it was first installed. Another thing are you useing starter bolts with the knurled body, or are you useing regular 3/8" bolts. If you are useing regular 3/8' bolts the starter will definately shift after a few starts. Starter bolts (knurled) have a .390 body dia. VS a .375 dia. on a 3/8" bolt.

Just looking :idea:

Zip.