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I can't seem to put two bolts on the car before I run into issues of some sort while getting new engine and tranny ready for installation.
The current problem is with my Powermaster 9000 starter that I bought to go with my Dart SHP block and my 168 tooth flywheel.
I was looking over the instructions and it say I should have at least 1/16" clearance all the way around from the back of the flywheel to the starter gear teeth, which I do. However to me it seems excessive, more then 3/16", and to the point where the I don't feel all of the starter teeth mesh with as much of the flywheel teeth as they should.
I also have issue with how far away from flush with the block backside and the starter mounting block, you can see it's probably 1/8" from being flush. If it was flush, my gear interchange issue above would probably go away as well. I know they probably can't be perfectly flush because my bellhousing lower cover plate will take up some of the room.
Since this is my first time installing a flywheel and starter, I'm asking others who may know better than I if there really is a problem or if it's just me.
I know on the back of the starter block, there looks to be a shim of some sort.
So I did take apart my starter and removed that shim and tried placing that black and starter back together but something is preventing it from going all the way in.
The pinion is too far away on my 9000 or 9004. What do I do?
The 9000 and 9004 starters have a block on the front that mounts the starter to the engine. Between this block and the starter are two shims. To remove these shims, remove the block from the starter by removing the three socket head bolts, remove the shim on the blck and the one in the bearing bore, and reassemble the block and starter. This will increase the pinion's depth of engagement by 1/16" approximately.
Ok, sounds good as I've removed the shim on the block as seen in the picture, but I've looked hard at the bearing bore and I see no shim down there to remove!?
Am I just missing something simple or do I have a defective product?
Here's a shot showing the block shim removed and how much space there is left:
After pulling out the starter gear a couple times while I was measuring, I looked at one of my pictures and you can literally see how little of the gear is actually making contact with the flywheel gears below the green highlighted area.
I went out and measured the distance from the flywheel ring back to the front starter gear with my calipers and it's about 0.1855 which is pretty much what my one pictures shows, over 3/16" gap.
The instructions say that there should be at least a 1/16" gap (0.0625), so I'm well past that.
The guy in the video was looking for between 1/2 to 2/3 the thickness of the flywheel.
I guess I'm not smart enough to understand why you wouldn't want as much of your gears meshing up as possible.
However, from a distance in the video his starter mounting block does seem to be closer to the edge of the bellhousing mating surface which will put the gear further out (and as to why he shimmed it) to push it back. Maybe just my starter block isn't machined correctly for my installation.
Guess I'm yelling Fire when there is none?
Last edited by StingrayLust; Jan 18, 2015 at 12:36 AM.
Same thing, guy says to shoot for between 1/2 and 2/3 engagements of the two gears.
And I've thought the shimming some more and believe I may have looked in the wrong area. I was expecting the shim to be here in this bore:
but after thinking about it more, I believe the shim is actually underneath that big gear (I'll have to find a way to push it out of there) in this bore:
It's too late and too cold to look now, I'll check in the morning and report back on whether or not I was a doofus.
You've gone to more trouble than I did with that starter. I used a Powermaster 9000 that fit and worked fine on a previous SBC. I then installed it on a Dart SHP block.
I never did like the fit on the first engine, but when I began using it on the SHP block I could never get the backlash clearance right. The pinion engaged with about 2/3 rds contact, but I don't recall it being as extreme as what your showing. The Powermaster 9000 did work and started the engine just fine.
I just never felt comfortable with the clearance or the way it looked when mounted. I didn't want to get stuck on the side of the road and it bothered me enough that I sold it on Craigslist and installed a Powermaster 9200 with the nose cone. No issues with the 9200 starter pinion engagement or backlash and I'm satisfied with the fit when mounted.
I'd send it back as defective and try a different 9000 or try a different model starter like the 9200.
I couldn't wait until morning. So indeed I was a newbie dunce and once I pressed off the shaft there was the other shim I had been meaning to find!!
Now I'm just having trouble getting it back together as I don't have a press and I was having a bit of trouble pushing it back in. So I'll have to figure out how to get that done and will post more measurements afterwards, but I'm guessing I'll be right in that sweet spot of 1/2 to 2/3 engagement.
Powermaster 9000 starter issue
