L S 3 Starter

[solidaxel]

I am looking at starters for my new LS 3 with a factory flex plate
Are these starters for the LS 3 different than the 5.3 form early 2000?

[clinebarger]

I'm pretty sure their the same, I have only ran into a different starter on a LS engine 1 time.....Holden built vehicles use a Mitsubishi Starter & you can't bolt up a Delco starter

[solidaxel]

Thanks again!
I would think that the flex plates are the same and the bolt pattern is the same, just different prices for the starters!

[homemade87]

There is differences , just none you can see . The 6.0 and bigger starters are more kw output .

[solidaxel]

Originally Posted by homemade87

There is differences , just none you can see . The 6.0 and bigger starters are more kw output .

O K, is the 6.2 same as the one for the 6.0, or is it just the "power" Kw?

[homemade87]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

O K, is the 6.2 same as the one for the 6.0, or is it just the "power" Kw?

Most 6.0 starters are for trucks . There is some differences in car and truck starters . I think the truck starter is shorter . Will it fit a ls3 . Not sure . If it will fit it will most likely work just fine .

[solidaxel]

Got it, Thanks!

[69trk]

I had a hole drilled in my fbody oil pan, and they drilled it pretty close to the starter. So I took my 2002 5.3 starter back to oreilleys, and swapped it with a 2007 5.3 out of a Yukon... its shorter and a little smaller so it worked perfect for my set up. The only thing, is my old starter had 11 tooth and this starter only has 9 teeth. But I'm told it will work either way. The 9 tooth may spin it slower, but have a little more torque. But not sure.

[solidaxel]

I checked a few starters on rockauto for trucks, camaros and corvettes and they are all over the place in price, but not much info
I wish they were rated with a Kw, like you said I guess they all will work!

[homemade87]

If I remember correctly the regular starters are a 1.4kw (car starters ) and the engines that require a little more starter power is 1.7kw . I also believe all truck starters are 1.7kw

[solidaxel]

Still looking at starter motors!
Looks like there is a 9 10 or 11 tooth and just a little difference on the solenoid starter hook up and a bit of difference on HP or Kw output and the price is all over the board

[GoaterAz]

Hello there, I'll pass along a very similar situation that I went through last week which might help out a bit. I'll tell you everything I know, which isn't much lol. But after hours of research, this is what I concluded.

I have an LS3-480hp, T56 Magnum Connect and Cruise from Chevrolet. In both the manual transmission (I have) and auto setups they recommend Chevy Performance starter #10465385. This costs over $300 + a $45 core charge and is a remanufactured AC Delco. Also, this starter uses 1 short bolt and 1 long bolt to mount, you can read days of horror stories about the short bolt side breaking off and taking a chunk of the block on the long bolt side with it.

I recently bought three starters to compare (see below):

Long Bolt Part Number: 11610787

Left: Truck Starter #3371033 (2008 Silverado 2500 6.0, 2 long bolt)

Middle: AC Delco #12617229 (2010+ Camaro Ls3 Starter, 2 long bolt)

Right: AC Delco #10465385 (the one Chevy Performance recommends, 1 short, 1 long bolt)

All three had 11-teeth, you can see the mounting differences between the 2 long bolt starters (truck/camaro) and the 1 short/1 long starter (Chevy Performance on the right). What was strange was the Camaro starter gear was almost 3/4" higher (vertically) than the truck and Chevy Performance starters, this caused it not to fit into my bellhousing (1998-2002 F-body that came with the kit) without making clearance, which I really didn't want to do. Also, the Camaro starter required an additional pigtail plug for operation.

From what I read online, there is a difference between the 5.3 truck and 6.0 starters (9 tooth vs. 11 tooth). The truck starter was noticeably shorter in length than the Chevy Performance.

I haven't wired anything in, but I ended up buying the truck starter from RockAuto for around $150, new AC Delco unit. I hope this helps.

[solidaxel]

Thanks for the input
Do you know why they recommend Chevy Performance starter #10465385?

[GoaterAz]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

Thanks for the input
Do you know why they recommend Chevy Performance starter #10465385?

Probably because it's $400 haha

That's a good question though. I'm not real positive on that one, that is the part number that's in the installation manual. But after reading horror stories on ls1tech.com about the short bolt mounting ear, people highly recommend the 2 long bolt style starters. This is my first go around, but my mechanic told me that as long as it's a new AC Delco and fits, not to worry too much about the specs on the LS starters.

By comparison, the Camaro starter is new and $120. It blows my mind how they are selling the 'recommended' remanufactured starter for that much especially given its 'flawed' mounting design.

[t300]

I used the smaller kw starter from a 4.8 on my lq4 6.0. for what it's worth t seems to work fine

[homemade87]

For whats its worth . I bought a 06 TBSS which has the ls2 6.0 . The starter always seemed like it was slow but worked fine . I decided to replace it thinking it was going to fail . It always worked just fine . It looked like the the previous owner had replaced it . I did a little research and picked up the proper 1.7 KW starter and sounds fine now . After thinking the started had a problem I think the starter was of the lower KW after thinking about it .

Most would not hear or recognize what I was hearing , a gear head like I am . Wife never hear anything and asked why I was changing it . Would it have been ok , most likely now that I know what it was . Did I like it , No .