firebirdforlife

My car has been a nightmare problem after problem and would love some help. So recently my starter started grinding right after starting. I drove it for about 10 days before I decided I didn't want to damage anything, so I went to buy a starter and following the advice on here I bought the truck starter (5.3) (Remy 96232). Upon removal of the old starter I noticed a few flywheel teeth that were half chipped. So anyways I put the new starter in and started her up, while cranking I heard a weird type of scraping noise I didn't know if its just the way this new starter sounded or if it was grinding again. After the third day my car would no longer start and the starter would only spin. If i push the car while its in gear than the starter would start I did this about 3 times and each time it gets worse and worse. I have a billet steel flywheel (18 lb)and I am assuming my flywheel is done for. What I dont understand is how come this new starter was constantly eating up the flywheel teeth. Did I need to shim it??? I noticed some metal threads on the floor when I swapped starters I'M assuming its from to much tq on the old starter bolts but still the new starter was against the block nice and snug.

firebirdforlife

Also does the flywheel stop in the exact same spot every-time? Because I would assume that it would start up sometimes atleast. But the last 3 times we had to push it in gear to start.

jrpimp00

iTrader: (17)

you need to replace the flywheel and starter motor and check you engagement before firing it up. You may need to shim it

patSS/00

iTrader: (6)

There are two truck starters, with either 11 pinion teeth or 9. The stock fbody version uses 11, the one you got is 9, just FYI.

firebirdforlife

i thought the 9 teeth one would work i searched the forum but now im gonna throw it back through the autoparts store window jkjk i bought it off ebay lol. yeah gonna throw in a new clutch while im down there also, does anyone know if the ls1 stops at the same spot or if its random spots on the flywheel?? tyy

firebirdforlife

also i thought the starters on these cars dont need shiming

ChevFTW

Remove the starter.
Make sure you have the right one. Google images or check p/n's.
Check the starter bolts threads to see if they have ripped threads out of the block (it seems they have. This could be your problem. You might need to repair the blocks threads with HeliCoil).
Make sure you have the correct bolts and not some undersized shitty random ones you found in your garage.
Check the engine block - around where your starter bolts to for damage or welds (previous damage).
Screw the bolts back in the block and wiggle the bolts around to see if there's play.
Install the starter, check if it's mounted straight and check for play (try to move the starter left/right - aim for your b/r and b/l wheels)
Check the starter and ring gear gap. There are heaps of posts/threads regarding this (using a pin between the teeth to measure with). Do a quick google search.

I'm pretty sure the flywheel stops in random spots.

firebirdforlife

Ok I checked the area surrounding the starter and the starter mount bolt holes, the starter is nice and snug in there, when I installed my old starter back in I can get it to crank a few times without grinding, so I'm pretty that truck starter wrecked my flywheel up. It's so weird, maybe its because my flywheel is aftermarket, I don't know but the truck starter with 9 teeth just grinds day and night. My flywheel teeth look wrecked. I have taken some pictures of my flywheel. And yeah I think I need a new one and also going to grab a proper 11 teeth starter that looks like my oem unit so the new one doesn't get chewed up again.