1994 starter
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 234
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From: Stuart Florida
1994 starter
So, my car has been apart for 4 months, can swap, headers, etc. Today I went to put the starter in. There was a shim between starter and mount plate when I took the starter off. I can't find the shim. Is this important? Should I try to install it without the shim? It was the thickness of a standard washer.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,894
Likes: 592
From: New Port Richey FL
So, my car has been apart for 4 months, can swap, headers, etc. Today I went to put the starter in. There was a shim between starter and mount plate when I took the starter off. I can't find the shim. Is this important? Should I try to install it without the shim? It was the thickness of a standard washer.
kind of if needed it's there for starter ring gear mesh/spacing. you can try running without it but if the tolerance is to small you may get gear clash or the starter gear may not disengage easily.
if it had 1 I would recommend finding it or replacing it should be available at most part stores
Last edited by s carter; Apr 22, 2016 at 12:20 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,649
Likes: 863
As previous posts have pointed out - GM didn't install that shim because they had a few hundred thousand lying around and were looking to get rid of them... BUT your starter and ring gear are no longer new, so it's possible that with some wear on the gear teeth - the shim is no longer needed.
If you look in the good old FSM - they say that you should be able to insert a 0.5mm wire between the tip of the ring gear tooth and the root of the starter gear tooth (with the starter drive extended). If you can do so without the shim in place you should be good to go... If you can't - see if you can find a starter / alternator place around - they should have those shims lying around - or buy a cheap feeler gage set and do what you have to do to "make a shim".
If you look in the good old FSM - they say that you should be able to insert a 0.5mm wire between the tip of the ring gear tooth and the root of the starter gear tooth (with the starter drive extended). If you can do so without the shim in place you should be good to go... If you can't - see if you can find a starter / alternator place around - they should have those shims lying around - or buy a cheap feeler gage set and do what you have to do to "make a shim".
