Need HELP! Keep breaking starters.
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On The Tree
Joined: Dec 2004
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Need HELP! Keep breaking starters. A month or two ago, I went to start my car. When I did, I got a horrible grinding sound from the motor when the starter engaged. I pulled the starter and one of the starter flanges closest to the flywheel was broken. I was very low on funds and bought an Advanced Auto starter (yeah I know... but limited cash = limited options). I installed this and a week later the same thing happened. Since it was a free replacement I exchanged it and put the replacement in the car. Few days later, it happened again!! banghead
So I checked the flywheel for bad spots and to see if it was warped in any way (turned it at the front of the crank). It looked good to go... no bad spots, warping and all of the bolts on the flywheel/torque converter were not loose. I don't *think* it needs shims. Before the last starter went bad, it sounded like the gears were meshing just fine. I'm no super car mechanic... so I'm kinda lost at what it might be.
Does anyone have a clue what it might be? My wife is trash talking how Chevys are pieces of **** and I want to fix it so she'll shut up. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
So I checked the flywheel for bad spots and to see if it was warped in any way (turned it at the front of the crank). It looked good to go... no bad spots, warping and all of the bolts on the flywheel/torque converter were not loose. I don't *think* it needs shims. Before the last starter went bad, it sounded like the gears were meshing just fine. I'm no super car mechanic... so I'm kinda lost at what it might be.
Does anyone have a clue what it might be? My wife is trash talking how Chevys are pieces of **** and I want to fix it so she'll shut up. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
it's the starter nosecone that keeps breaking, where the bolts go through the starter?
if so there's really only a couple things that'll cause that,
(1) not tightening the starter bolts tight enough to where the starter can rock or move and when the starter engages the flywheel because it's a PMGR starter with a planetary gearset in it, it has a lot of torque and the sudden shock of the starter hitting a stationary flywheel will want to cause the starter to shift, and if there's a little wiggle room that's all it needs to shift then crack the nosecone. Also, make sure the mating surfaces of the nosecone and on the block are flat and clean, if the starter doesn't fit flush and even up against the block that'll cause it too.
(2) or you have a compression problem: either too much which is most likely not the case, or you have water/coolant entering a cylinder causing partial hydrolock which should be easy to determine, or the motor is firing while starting having a lot of ignition advance and trying to force a piston backwards and that force is ending up at the starter.
Rarely, practically never, is it the starter's fault for being poor quality especially the nosecone cracking.
if so there's really only a couple things that'll cause that,
(1) not tightening the starter bolts tight enough to where the starter can rock or move and when the starter engages the flywheel because it's a PMGR starter with a planetary gearset in it, it has a lot of torque and the sudden shock of the starter hitting a stationary flywheel will want to cause the starter to shift, and if there's a little wiggle room that's all it needs to shift then crack the nosecone. Also, make sure the mating surfaces of the nosecone and on the block are flat and clean, if the starter doesn't fit flush and even up against the block that'll cause it too.
(2) or you have a compression problem: either too much which is most likely not the case, or you have water/coolant entering a cylinder causing partial hydrolock which should be easy to determine, or the motor is firing while starting having a lot of ignition advance and trying to force a piston backwards and that force is ending up at the starter.
Rarely, practically never, is it the starter's fault for being poor quality especially the nosecone cracking.
