Need help shimming starter
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Need help shimming starter
Hmmm...old starter, new flexplate...I didn't think I'd have a problem, but I do.
I'm getting a loud grinding noise when cranking.
Upon inspection, the nose housing of the starter is touching the flexplate. When I backed off the retaining bolts, it seems like it will be in the perfect position. Will shimming fix this?
I'm getting a loud grinding noise when cranking.
Upon inspection, the nose housing of the starter is touching the flexplate. When I backed off the retaining bolts, it seems like it will be in the perfect position. Will shimming fix this?
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Re: Need help shimming starter (NoWorries)
pull the flywheel cover and have a paper clip ready...stick a small screwdriver in the starter to lift the gear out into place..there should be a hole provided....apply shims until there is enough room for the paperclip to just fit in between starter gear and flywheel.....tighten her up and that should do it....
Also mine did the grind thing too...turns out my battery was weak.....so I tried jumping it.....same thing...I blamed the starter again...turns out my car did not like being jumped by a lowrider....as soon as I put in a new battery it started right up...Hope it helps.....
Also mine did the grind thing too...turns out my battery was weak.....so I tried jumping it.....same thing...I blamed the starter again...turns out my car did not like being jumped by a lowrider....as soon as I put in a new battery it started right up...Hope it helps.....
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Re: Need help shimming starter (Shayne)
Thanks for the reply. The good folks at NAPA said this is a common problem even with the original flexplate and starter. :confused:
So I got the shims from them, for free even, and will install them Thursday night. Thanks for the technique on checking clearance, that ought to save some time and teeth.
For what its worth, I used to have the hardest time jump starting my car(I've now got a DieHard Gold 930 CCA battery :D [Tim Taylor Grunt]) because I would try to ground it at the negative lead. Sometimes it would work, most of the time it wouldn't. Then I discovered that if you ground the battery charger or jumper cables to the alternator bracket, you get much better results. I even got my car to start off of my motorcycles 145 CCA battery.(With the bikes cruise control set at 3,500 rpms) Just for what its worth.
Thanks again for your reply.
So I got the shims from them, for free even, and will install them Thursday night. Thanks for the technique on checking clearance, that ought to save some time and teeth.
For what its worth, I used to have the hardest time jump starting my car(I've now got a DieHard Gold 930 CCA battery :D [Tim Taylor Grunt]) because I would try to ground it at the negative lead. Sometimes it would work, most of the time it wouldn't. Then I discovered that if you ground the battery charger or jumper cables to the alternator bracket, you get much better results. I even got my car to start off of my motorcycles 145 CCA battery.(With the bikes cruise control set at 3,500 rpms) Just for what its worth.
Thanks again for your reply.
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Re: Need help shimming starter (Shayne)
I shimmed the starter tonight with no worries. It took two shims. I couldn't get a big enough screw driver into the hole to manually pull the gear out, so I just went off of where I thought it should be then tested it. The starter sounds great, and watching it while my buddie turned it over makes it seem like it couldn't be better alligned.
