starter

[imdawrlus]

sometimes on cold mornings when i go to start my truck i can hear the starter motor revving up but the engine dosent crank....most of the time its fine, but probablly once in 10 it does this....the other day it got real bad, it was cranking and then the starter gear must have somehow disengaged and the startor motor continued to rev without the engine starting....it would finally start, but it took a few tries......whats going on with it?? can anyone tell me how to fix it because i dont want to get stranded somewhere with no starter.....THANKS!!!!

[DROPPEDGMC]

sounds like something matbe wrong with the bendix gear. not engaging all the way. i'd pull it out and look at it

[Matt 4.3 TBI]

Sounds like the starter solenoid going out. That's what mine was doing before I replaced it, it would engage and turn the engine about half a crank, then spin, try it again, just spins, a couple tries later it would engage and get it started. I just replaced the starter with one of the high-torque mini-starters, costs about the same and it's much lighter.

[T Man]

I think it is the solenoid too

[imdawrlus]

isnt the sloanoid just an electrical relay?? how could this cause the starter to disengage from the flywheel?? i was told by a neighbor to take the starter out and clean the gears.....i'm guessing he's talking about the bendix gears....if their dirty can they just be cleaned or do they need to be replaced?? also if the bendix is the problem, do i need to replace the whole starter or just the bendix?? THANKS!!

[T Man]

the solenoid is the thing that forces the gear out. without it the gear will sit in its housing and spin, what it sounds like it is doing. the solenoid kicks the gear out and engages it to the flywheel
dollars to doughnuts that is what it is doing.

FYI A solenoid turns electricity into a linear motion

[imdawrlus]

i'm going to go to autozone and get a rebuilt duralast with a lifetime warrenty for 90 bucks...thats a goog deal i think.....also, how hard is it to get the starter out??? THANKS!!

[T Man]

i dont know what they cost, but i have an autozone starter and it has been very good to me. not quite as torquey as i woluld like, but then again, im not running high compression

[Matt 4.3 TBI]

You'll need to drop or at least loosen the flexplate cover, disconnect the starter wiring (make sure to disconnect the battery before you attempt this!!) then take out the bolts and try to wrestle it loose and snake it past the exhaust to get it out.

I paid $105 for my high-torque mini-starter. The reman units were about 85-90, so I figured I'd just spend a few more bucks to get a better one.

[bvr775]

also, how hard is it to get the starter out??? THANKS!!


2 bolts and a couple of wires. drop it down slide it back a little and tilt it. It should come right out. Once you get under the truck you'll see what I'm talking about.

make sure they give you the right starter. It's a common myth that one gm starter fits all. i don't belive you truck has a removable inspection cover, so getting a feeler gauge in there to get the gap right is going to be almost imposible. Allot of the rebuilt sarter have the gear housing milled down and you have to use shims to get it right.
This is why I rebulid my starters so I know they are the right starter. A solinoid is one the easyest things on a starter to replase. You sould really look in to getting a new soliniod instead of buying the whole starter.

[imdawrlus]

what exactly is the flexplate and the flexplate cover?? is it the bellhousing?? how long should this take me?? i hope i can get this done in a couple hours....thanks everyone.....

[bvr775]

It only take about 30 min(mabey an hour sence you've never done a starter) It's not a complicated job.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT STARTER. It takes allot longer when have to keep pulling the thing out and adding or removeing shimes.
simple explaination
the flywheel bolts to the crank and the convertor bolts to it and that's what turns the tranny. It have a ring gear welded aroud to circumfernce and you stater turns it to start the engine. basicaly the same function as a flexplate.

Flexplates are for stander tranny/ flywheels are for auto trannys.

[Matt 4.3 TBI]

The flexplate inspection cover is the metal piece bolted to the front underside of the transmission right behind the engine. My mini-starter didn't come with shims so I had to stop mid-job to get a set, then spend an hour getting the clearance right. After all was said and done it took about 5 hrs from start to finish (including beer breaks!). If it would have worked the first time I bolted it up, I bet it would have only taken about 2 hrs.

[Matt 4.3 TBI]

Actually, flywheels are on manual transmissions, flexplates are on auto's. The torque converter will balloon at the center as it spins, so the plate it's bolted to needs to flex- ie flexplate.

[imdawrlus]

d@mn u guys are quick....haha.....i think i'll be able to get it....i hope...now when it comes to shims, do i just put the same ones back that i took out (if any)?? also whats the chance of the ring gear having a few stripped teeth on it?? i'll find out for sure tomorow but just to help me sleep i'd like some reasurance that i wont need to drop the tranny haha.....i'll let u all know tomorow how it went...thanks everyone....

[bvr775]

I got to thincking about that and i got them mixed up

auto flexplate (dodge) imagine the exspense of breaking a ring gear on a dodge. you have to replase the whole convertor
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:gwwFYUKdsacJ:jacksautoparts.com/catalog/transmission/flexplate.jpg

standerd flywheel


http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:kTYwU0tGiwgJ:www.schaffter.com/jpg/flywheel.jpg (http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:kTYwU0tGiwgJ:www.schaffter.com/jpg/flywheel.jpg)


our flexplate (ok mabey in our dreams)
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:ccYwY5qFuAgJ:www.72ss454elcamino.com/flexplate.JPG

[imdawrlus]

allright heres the problem....i went out and got all the bolts off, and i can move the starter around freely, but, i cant get to slide forward far enough to pop the back side down....i have edelbrock headers...could these be getting in the way??

[T Man]

did you disconnect the wires? I know on mine (1st gen) i had to remove a support to get it out. if you didnt disconnect the wires, DO IT

[Matt 4.3 TBI]

I've got Edelbrocks as well, and I could get mind out. Did you drop the flexplate cover? The trick with mine was to try to raise up the end of the starter enough to get the gear end to drop down, then just pull it out. The stock starter shouldn't have any shims, so if you have a reman part, you SHOULDN'T need any. That's what they said about my mini-starter, though...

[imdawrlus]

allright guys i finished it and its the bawls....haha....what i had to do to get the starter was take the wheel off, and through the wheelwell i undid the wires, then i pushed the tranny cooler lines out of the way....and i'm sure i didnt have to do this, but i thought it was blocking me from raising it up, i took off the header...atleast i could see what i was doing better.....but anyways i got it on and it works great....for now...haha thanks everyone......

[Matt 4.3 TBI]

Glad to hear it worked out. Hopefully this one will last at least as long as the original!

[imdawrlus]

i hope so too.....the original (or what i believe to be) has 171K miles on it....thats wayyy longer than i'm going to have the truck so i think i'm in good shape....thanks everyone......