LT4 Starter Issues
03-20-2011, 09:30 AM
#6
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Just put my oil pan back on and started getting a starter grind after engine warmed up and heat sinks the metal (expanding it somewhat). Starter was fine when cold but had to put in 2 shims to stop grinding/binding when hot. Funny thing is, I don't believe I had ever used shims before. AutoZone has em for small block chevy. Use the ones that are straight across instead of the other which is staggered. Only have to drop one bolt and simply loosen the other. Very easy to do without removing starter.
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03-21-2011, 06:11 AM
#11
Just put my oil pan back on and started getting a starter grind after engine warmed up and heat sinks the metal (expanding it somewhat). Starter was fine when cold but had to put in 2 shims to stop grinding/binding when hot. Funny thing is, I don't believe I had ever used shims before. AutoZone has em for small block chevy. Use the ones that are straight across instead of the other which is staggered. Only have to drop one bolt and simply loosen the other. Very easy to do without removing starter.
Funny you mention that, as my starter didn't have any shims initially, but after I had the car apart to fix a couple of oil leaks that LT1s ALL develop, I was getting a little grind when the starter would dis-engage, especially when the engine was fully heated up. I bought a package of shims, and installed the thinnest one, and the bind went away.
A couple of years later, when some new oil leaks developed, I decided to pull the tranny, and replace the rear mail seal with the new design, and while in there, I opted to put in a heavy duty flexplate, and I then needed to install a thicker shim, to stop the bind....
03-21-2011, 07:44 AM
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thats a vette not the same as the camaro, the flex plates are diffrent i think as well, so shiming that one my be needed. Also was the starter that said to shim a ac delco or a knock off? i never heard of shiming an lt1 starter, its just interesting to me. When they grind or bind we replace them and that almost always solves the problem.but hey if a shim works for $3 that much better than 100 or more
03-21-2011, 01:25 PM
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Funny you mention that, as my starter didn't have any shims initially, but after I had the car apart to fix a couple of oil leaks that LT1s ALL develop, I was getting a little grind when the starter would dis-engage, especially when the engine was fully heated up. I bought a package of shims, and installed the thinnest one, and the bind went away.
A couple of years later, when some new oil leaks developed, I decided to pull the tranny, and replace the rear mail seal with the new design, and while in there, I opted to put in a heavy duty flexplate, and I then needed to install a thicker shim, to stop the bind....
A couple of years later, when some new oil leaks developed, I decided to pull the tranny, and replace the rear mail seal with the new design, and while in there, I opted to put in a heavy duty flexplate, and I then needed to install a thicker shim, to stop the bind....
03-21-2011, 05:05 PM
#17
Leadfoot, strange things seem to develop sometimes. I have the original 6spd, original block, original starter and yet, after reassembling the intake, heads and oil pan the starter began binding when engine was warm. Strange....Hopefully the OP won't get confused by the other posts here that are going off in tangents and will go down to the parts store, get the shims to address the problem for which they are designed, and have a long-lived starter.
03-21-2011, 06:51 PM
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96TABoosted, why do you think my original everything (concerned with this problem anyway) suddenly developed an interference problem with starter gear and required shimming at 126K miles? Actually, I loosened the bolts TWICE and slowly torqued each in steps to reseat the starter to no avail until I used the shims.
03-22-2011, 06:12 AM
#20
96TABoosted, why do you think my original everything (concerned with this problem anyway) suddenly developed an interference problem with starter gear and required shimming at 126K miles? Actually, I loosened the bolts TWICE and slowly torqued each in steps to reseat the starter to no avail until I used the shims.
In my care, IIRC, I installed a 0.030 thick shim. That's pretty thin, but enough to cure the problem.
I have no doubt that is the situation....
