stater problems
 

I'm putting together a square body from several different year model trucks. The 350 engine came out of a 79 Blazer. The starter I have came from unknown year model. I put the starter on the engine and hooked a battery to it. The gear would jump out and get stuck in the fly wheel. I even tried putting washers in to act like a shim and it still gets stuck? Parts store said starter checks out good. Is it the wrong starter? Any ideas? Thanks for any and all help.

Re: stater problems
 

I put the starter on the engine and hooked a battery to it. The gear would jump out and get stuck in the fly wheel.


Are you using OEM starter mounting bolts (the kind with the knurled bodies)? Are the ring gear/ pinion gear teeth free from burrs?

Also keep in mind that a lot of the disengagement force between the pinion and ring gear is due to the overrunning clutch effect - occurs when the engine starts and drives the pinion back out of the mesh. So if you are doing this test on a non-running engine don't expect that kick-out. That only happens when the engine fires and the ring gear starts moving faster than the pinion.