nbanwart

As some of you guys know, I recently pulled and overhauled my l83 engine. I have absolutely everything hooked up that I can find and the starter isn't turning. When I measure voltage from the starter body to the positive battery connection on the starter I get 12v. There's no voltage going to the smaller cable until I turn the key, in which I then get 12v. There's 2 wires on the large terminal (positive battery lead and another wire which splits into 2 red wires shortly thereafter) and the one small wire on the small stud. Any thoughts? When I turn the key nothing happens, no clicking etc except for the 12v that appears on the small cable.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

rodj

As it should ; which shows power from Ign switch is correct

Park brake on , in P ,Ign OFF ,
jumper 12V ( from the big terminal ) to the small ( purple wire ) terminal.
Starter should throw solenoid out and spin engine over
If not carefully touch ( or jumper with a heavy wire) the heavy batt cable at starter to the terminal on the starter body ( not the terminal on the solenoid where it usually goes)
Starter should spin
If it spins but does not click; the solenoid is faulty and not throwing out .Can be repaired cheaply
If it doesn't spin either way ; have it tested.
May be market for a new starter

C409

.......... Many GM starters solenoids have two small terminals ... you may see a small S near one and an R near the other ....... you want to be hooked up to the S terminal ......... If your starter has two ... try the other ........

nbanwart

Got the wires switched...annnd it turned! But then ground straight into my flywheel....engine still ins't turning over because it's just grinding. Thoughts? My dad thinks I need to shim the starter even though there weren't shims on there originally...more thoughts?

rodj

If the pinion gear is hitting the ring gear teeth then starter is too close to the block and needs shims to space it out

glava2876

I just had the same thing when I changed the starter on my 84, which originally had no shims. But, the starter that I bought did specifically address this in the paperwork and made it clear that shims may be needed even if there were none on the starter being replaced.
Mine just "whined" a little as it disengaged, so I just need a real thin shim.

coupeguy2001

Is this an original engine block? Some of them had extra starter holes drilled for a different size flywheel/ring gear.
jack up the car, and look up at the starter pad and make sure the starter is bolted in the right holes.

nbanwart

Took one of the bolts off and the head twisted right off guess it broke inside the hole and wasn't torqued. Drilled and tapped for a bigger starter bolt. Thanks for the help guys!