[superbean]

well guys still trying to iron out the bugs in my project..

Starter was working fine up until a few days ago... backed the car out of the garage and left it outside.. then when i went to fire it up again, battery was dead, so i put the battery charger on it, i heard a hard knock sound and it would just spin the motor over and not fire it, with that same knock sound.. it eventually fired but the starter is super loud and scratchy sounding now..

well the this morning i spun it over and it still had that whine to it, but fired right up.. ran it for a few minutes .. shut it off..

Now I went to start it, the starter spins super fast but just makes that scratchy sound and wont turn the motor over.

I have tried tapping on the solenoid and the stater motor with a hammer thinking maybe it wasn't kicking out.. no luck from that.


What I'm thinking is that the battery charger was at like 18v or whatever and it spun the starter hard enough that it burnt up or broke a tooth off it. What you guys think?

btw, the motor is nothing special, just standard roller motor bottem end, so it doesn't deal with high compression or anything. Also I did not have a 5 speed mounting plate for my trans, so I cut the stater section off of it, and found some washers within .002 of the same thickness and used those. Think the starter is shimmed incorrectly?

[superbean]

anyone? The starter sucks to pull because i have to take my header off to do it, any advise as what to try with it on the car?

[1slo5.0]

Who knows, pull the starter and look at it. Its probably junk. They don't last forever.

[superbean]

true but this starter was new when I put the motor in, cranked the car maybe 25 times?

I have the starter shimmed, think i should take them out?

[1fst5.0]

where did u get the starter from? do u have long tube headers?

[superbean]

Its an autozone starter.. yes i have long tubes.

[1fst5.0]

autzone, checkerauto....not the best starters and alternators. i bought a "new" starter to install when i did my clutch, i went to start it when i finished, and nothing, not even a click. so u usually roll the dice with starters and alt. but they do go out with or without warning. but in ur case, u got plenty of warnings.

[ryans88gt]

Sounds like the bendix is binding or hitting the flywheel. You need shims on the outside half of the starter only.

This is of course a random guess based on my recent experience.

[chriswao]

youve prob messed the fly wheel up buy now.

[1slo5.0]

Originally Posted by chriswao youve prob messed the fly wheel up buy now.

It takes alot to mess up flywheel teeth with a softer metal bendix on a harder metal ring gear.

[chriswao]

not all the time ive seen a starter get out of line when a bolt comes loose and eat it to hell and back

[superbean]

Originally Posted by ryans88gt Sounds like the bendix is binding or hitting the flywheel. You need shims on the outside half of the starter only. This is of course a random guess based on my recent experience.

The outside half of the starter?

[superbean]

Originally Posted by chriswao not all the time ive seen a starter get out of line when a bolt comes loose and eat it to hell and back

True..

Bolts are still all snug and the starter hasn't cocked yet. When I pull it off, ill roll the motor around and check the flywheel and make sure it's ok.

At least I have a steel flywheel, so the chance that it will get messed up is alot less likely than if it was aluminum (alum flywheels usually have steel teeth, but still alum is softer than steel).

[superbean]

The starter is screwed .. the mounting tab broke off!!

So the starter was cocked and stayed moving while the car was running burning out the bendix.

Would it be ok to run a starter without a backing plate (my tranny backing plate is an auto with the starter section cut off to fit)

[1slo5.0]

Originally Posted by superbean The starter is screwed .. the mounting tab broke off!! So the starter was cocked and stayed moving while the car was running burning out the bendix. Would it be ok to run a starter without a backing plate (my tranny backing plate is an auto with the starter section cut off to fit)

People have run without that plate but realistically it is not ok. That plate provides proper spacing for the starter and also the torque converter (or input shaft in a manual). If it was just a dust shield like everybody thinks, it would just bolt to the lower bellhousing and not go between the block and bellhousing.