TERRY CLARK

Just put on a new PowerMaster starter..............cranks fine the first 3 or 4 times then it hits the flywheel teeth and just sorta clicks, then you have to move the starter gear teeth just a hair, then it works ? ? ? '73 in Tennessee

GrandSportC3

Did you use shims to install the starter?

TERRY CLARK

Yes........Same problem, no shim,1 shim & 2 shims .

S489

are you cranking it 4 time in 4 minutes, or 4 times spread out over a day ? that is, is it giving trouble when hot and not when cold?

GrandSportC3

I used 2 shims on mine (actually a Summit brand starter but it is a Powermaster with the Summit Logo on it). Never had such issue with it..

TERRY CLARK

Have not started it yet, still on stands, just making sure it's gonna crank. I'll crank it a couple minutes and then stop and repeat. I'll do that a few times, then it will hit the teeth. Summit said they will do that, I just have to keep doing it, until it stops. I guess i will work on deburring the flywheel teeth this weekend !

S489

does it have an aftermarket flexplate or flywheel (w/welded ring gear)?

TERRY CLARK

Pretty sure it's stock !

ML67

I had a similar problem w/ a Powermaster starter. It would intially engage, then disengage and grind or whine w/o engaging the ring gear at all. Shimming did not help. I finally removed it and determined the starter pinion was not extending far enough to sufficiently engage the flywheel ring gear fore-aft. This was a defect in the Powermaster starter as received. Powermaster customer support wasn’t particularly helpful so I simply returned it to the speed shop where I purchased it and exchanged it for another unit. While at the speed shop, I bench tested the 2 units to demonstrate the problem to the proprietor. As expected, the second starter pinion extended an additional 0.5” further than the original unit. The second starter has run fine since.

Good luck,

Mark

S489

hope that ML67 has your problem nailed!!
the only other thing i could think of is if you had an aftermarket flexplate, would be easy to check it while on the stand to make sure they welded the ring gear on concentrically.
more to go wrong with starters, but just in case you had completely ruled it out . . .