PLEASE HELP!!.....Starter shimming question.....
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2001
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From: Less Talk, More WOT | Houston TX
PLEASE HELP!!.....Starter shimming question.....
I am just wondering if anyone has ever had to shim their starter on our cars.... I a m on my 4th :rolleyes: Orielly starter and none of them have ever needed to be shimmed before, but this one sounds like it is just spinning and doesnt turn the flywheel. I would just ditch it and get an ac delco, but i dont have the money and the orielly ones have a lifetime warranty, so i just take them back and get another one. I just got a new one, took it home and put it on and it made a sound like a bandsaw when i tried to start it. I took it to the starter bench at the auto parts, and it tests good. I don't understand how 3 identical starters can work fine, but another needs to be shimmed. Can this actually happen?? Also, how do i know how much to shim it? Please help this is getting really aggravating
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From: Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die
St. Jude Donor '04-'05-'06-'07
Re: PLEASE HELP!!.....Starter shimming question..... (Wheelman)
Is your flywheel stripped? Or perhaps this starter has a flakey drive that fails under load.
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From: The Top of Utah
Re: PLEASE HELP!!.....Starter shimming question..... (Wheelman)
You will have to pull the converter cover to verify this. With the starter installed, pry the Bendix to the "start" (engaged) position. If it hits the flywheel, it needs shimming. Once shimmed, you can verify the proper amount, by inserting a paper clip in the valley of a fully engaged flexplate tooth. It should just touch the peak of the corresponding Bendix tooth. Good luck, and...
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Drifting
Joined: May 2003
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From: Lakeport CA
Re: PLEASE HELP!!.....Starter shimming question..... (CFI-EFI)
:iagree:
Thats what I did when changing to SM flywheel, stock starter w/ 1 shim was perfect. And a small paperclip, not a big one is pretty close to the correct diam. wire listed in the service manual for this measurement. I straightened it out & then put a 90 deg. bend in the wire so I could stick it in there from under the car. The hard part is getting the bendix pulled out & meshed w/ the flywheel.
Imagine this letter W is 2 teeth facing down on your flywheel. The bendix gear on the starter should mesh between those two teeth & at the top/middle of the underside of the W is where you stick the wire in for measurement. Basically you don't want the bendix to stick too deep into the flywheel gear & stay there after the engine fires. You need enough clearance for the bendix to pop back out of its engagement.
Thats what I did when changing to SM flywheel, stock starter w/ 1 shim was perfect. And a small paperclip, not a big one is pretty close to the correct diam. wire listed in the service manual for this measurement. I straightened it out & then put a 90 deg. bend in the wire so I could stick it in there from under the car. The hard part is getting the bendix pulled out & meshed w/ the flywheel.
Imagine this letter W is 2 teeth facing down on your flywheel. The bendix gear on the starter should mesh between those two teeth & at the top/middle of the underside of the W is where you stick the wire in for measurement. Basically you don't want the bendix to stick too deep into the flywheel gear & stay there after the engine fires. You need enough clearance for the bendix to pop back out of its engagement.
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From: Kingman AZ
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St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
Re: PLEASE HELP!!.....Starter shimming question..... (Wheelman)
:iagree: See TROG's answer above. I dug out the Chilton manual and it says the wire guage should be 0.5mm (0.20 in.) with the long end 3 in. and the short 90 degree end 1/4 to 1/2 in. long. Maybe some helpful C4 owner has one laying around or on a donor car that they would be willing to swap out. Try putting a plea in the C4 Parts For Sale/Wanted section. Here is some info from a Richard Newton article that could be helpful: "It's critical that the distance from the pinion gear to the flywheel be accurate. The general rule is that whatever shims you remove, you place back in with the new starter. The factory manual has a procedure for checking all this, but most people just check things by the way they sound. It the new starter sounds fine, just leave well enough alone." Obviously yours sounds like snit so it needs correct shimming. Good luck. Anyone out there willing to donate a starter to Wheelman? He truly is a good guy who helped me out immensely with my long-distance purchase of a C4 in his hometown last year! :blueangel:
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 6,694
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From: Less Talk, More WOT | Houston TX
Re: PLEASE HELP!!.....Starter shimming question..... (corvetteronw)
Well thanks for your help guys, I pulled of the bellhousing last night (i didnt even know you could do that :hat :hat ) and then it was pretty easy to see the problem. The starter was hitting the side of the flywheel, so I went to the autoparts store and bought a pack of shims. Its amazing how 3 starters from one place can fit fine, and an identical one can take an entire package of shims just to fit right :crazy:
Thanks again Ron, I greatly enjoyed helping you out, I'm glad you like your '87. You have also more than repaid me with the check you sent me as well as the drivers door light that was discontinued and I couldn't find anywhere! :seeya
Anyone out there willing to donate a starter to Wheelman? He truly is a good guy who helped me out immensely with my long-distance purchase of a C4 in his hometown last year! :blueangel:
