Starter misses about every 5 try
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Pro
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 650
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Starter misses about every 5 try
Hello all,
I have a brand new Powermaster mini starter on a sbc. About every 5th start, the starter misses the flywheel and just spins out. It's one of the starters that allows for both teeth count on the flywheel. I used the bolts that came with the starter. Anyone else run into this issue? Do I need to shim it?
Thanks!
I have a brand new Powermaster mini starter on a sbc. About every 5th start, the starter misses the flywheel and just spins out. It's one of the starters that allows for both teeth count on the flywheel. I used the bolts that came with the starter. Anyone else run into this issue? Do I need to shim it?
Thanks!
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 650
Likes: 1
OK guys,
Thanks for making me actually look at this. I snapped some pics and it seems that the Lakewood block plate is creating too much of a distance between the starter gear and the flywheel ring gear. I snapped some pics. Please chime in and let me know what you think. Again, this Powermaster mini starter. It seems like a really solid piece. No strange manufacturing defects. I used the bolts that came with it to install it. How do folks running a block plate overcome the extra clearance?
Thanks for looking!
This is from the side:
Another side shot:
This is from the bottom looking up:
Thanks for making me actually look at this. I snapped some pics and it seems that the Lakewood block plate is creating too much of a distance between the starter gear and the flywheel ring gear. I snapped some pics. Please chime in and let me know what you think. Again, this Powermaster mini starter. It seems like a really solid piece. No strange manufacturing defects. I used the bolts that came with it to install it. How do folks running a block plate overcome the extra clearance?
Thanks for looking!
This is from the side:
Another side shot:
This is from the bottom looking up:
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 2,753
Likes: 119
From: Springfield Missouri
your starter bolts to the engine, so spacing on the bell housing should not be a factor. The ring gear is bolted to the flywheel, so the bell housing is not effected there. You need to look at the ring gear and see if gears are messed up. Then make sure the starter is aligned to the gears, then check for spacing from the block(which is where they sometimes need shims).
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,241
Likes: 3,063
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
Sounds like the starter isnt pushing that gear out enough every time (called the bendix?). Id look at the starter before anything elseWhen it extends properly it will either engage everytime or not at all
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 18,740
Likes: 2,583
Do you have an instruction sheet similar to this and did you check the clearance?
http://www.powermastermotorsports.co...werMAXshim.pdf
http://www.powermastermotorsports.co...werMAXshim.pdf
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Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 650
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Do you have an instruction sheet similar to this and did you check the clearance?
http://www.powermastermotorsports.co...werMAXshim.pdf
http://www.powermastermotorsports.co...werMAXshim.pdf
Melwff,
Yes,
After you asked me to check the clearance I found the box and the instructions. I also found two starter base shims and one circular shim. The circular shim is for not enough clearance which is not my issue. There is plenty of room between the engine side of the ring gear and the starter teeth. Definitely more than 1/16th of an inch. I'm going to try to add a base shim (the thin ones that go between the starter and the block) tonight and take it out for a drive and a few starts. I've never had any issue with any starter I've ever installed on ANY engine before. This includes old (real) Pontiacs, Buicks, SBC, Toyota, BMW, etc. I've just bolted them up and started driving. All this clearance checking is new to me.
Last edited by brando1118; Sep 12, 2012 at 02:35 PM.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Apr 2009
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A-ha!!
I found a thread from VetteMOD.com where Lars chimes in with his own experience with mini-starters and shims. I have a manual 70.
This explains my problem perfectly. I hope I don't need more shims than what was provided in the box.
http://www.vettemod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3604
I found a thread from VetteMOD.com where Lars chimes in with his own experience with mini-starters and shims. I have a manual 70.
This explains my problem perfectly. I hope I don't need more shims than what was provided in the box.
http://www.vettemod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3604