LS1 Block broke at the starter mount!!! NO!!
 

So I read a few post here about this happening on an LS2. My girl started my car for me and it made a nasty "crack" noise. Thought the starter just went bad. I check under the car and the starter is hanging by the wires!! The starter broke apart at one bolt and the other tore a piece of the block off! I have read other posts and I guess this happens often. Does anyone have any suggestions? I hear replacing engine :(, Welding the piece back on but some say it will never work right again, or maybe finding a bell housing adapter plate so the starter will mount to that. If anyone has any experience with this help me with links or products or anything! Thanks in advance.

These pics are not mine but from another website but this oddly is "exactly" what my situation is

Any help? Am I in the right section?

happens alot. just weld it back on

funny it happened when my girl was driving her car too. it is almost impossible to weld it correctly unless you pull the motor to do it. i actually got a metal epoxy resin and tried that first on hers before pulling the motor and its been holding. its held now for approx 8,000 miles. i just dregeased the area and made sure it was really clean before i did it and let the car sit for 24 hours to make sure it cured before it was drivin and its been working fine. good luck.

That sucks! Looks like your flywheel is toast too! Like he said maybe epoxy it into position again then make a steel plate to bolt over the front face into the good metal to both sides of the break?

Yeah I might try some metal epoxy, is JB weld good maybe, or something stronger. I've called every shop around here and they're scared to weld aluminum like that :)

Did you ever get this to work? How did you repair it?

If you weld the block, would the heat transfer cause bearing damage?

i've welded dozens of aluyminum blocka and trans cases on other rides with no heat issues causing failures.... i currently have a 97 cummins with the block held together with JB weld.. clean the area REAL REAL good and then if able sand or grind it alittle so there is alot of good clean material and JB it... its not an ideal fix but hey its held in a cummins for 140k miles..... if it works you saved a ton of money... if not then you have to pull the motor anyhow, aint lost nothin but time

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/d...xoCSPgQAvD_BwE

here is someone's video on it.


I have never done this first hand. Just had a friend tell Me how He just had this happen. so I did a search and the above is what I found.

The video describes a small block situation. The OP from ten years ago describes an LS2 situation. Different engines

well Yes, a different engine. But the starter has not really changed, and if the bell housing is the same (which I think it is) and the flywheel (or flex plate is again the same) then there is a good chance this could work. but you are right I am old and not all the up on the new high tech part of the new car's.

Bellhousings are the same, flywheels/flexplates are NOT. A small block starter and LS starter are different also. The LS is a completely different animal than the small block.

ditch the LS1 starter and get a truck starter with two equal length mounting bolts.... much stronger

IIRC isn't there a rear rod that you bolt to the back of the starter that ties it to the block?
I remember seeing it on industrial and marine V8's ..
Long ago.. It came with a new bolt that replaced the one that goes through the starter

If you can't find a shop or dont want to deal with it you need a starter bridge. If you google LS Starter Bridge its the first result.

See this thread: https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...k-broke-8.html
Post #148 has pix of a repair bracket.