Flex plate change due to starter issues

[Halltmja]

Alright, tired of the starter grinding/shimming and rebuilding it for the third time in six months. Guy I bought it from said the flex plate was change two years ago. Asking for a little help out there.......how hard is it to drop the tranny and do I need to take the fluid out? Have not done this in a long time. Other than that my 69 c10. 350 runs great! Thanks

[Halltmja]

One last item is that the starter is a high torque starter due to the headers and limited room

[FRANKENSTEINC10]

No need to drop the tranny at all. Get a couple of 6" bolt (3/8-16) and use the bottom wholes on the teanny. Remove the cross member bolts and use a decent floor jack to slide the tranny back on. Pull the 6 bolts and drop the flexplate. Replace with a new plate and reinstall or replace the 6 bolts. Now slide the teanny back and bolt everything back down tight.

[69chevytrucker]

Drop out drive shaft back at the rear end keep it in the trans tape it on or whatever just keep it there undo trans crossmember bolts two in the middle by the tail undo flywheel bolts then undo bellhousing bolts put jack with 2x4 across under trans pan take up the weight of the trans with the jack carefully back the trans off the engine a inch you can even take longer bellhousing bolts and leave in holes the trans only need to come off the engine enough for you to get at the flywheel bolts on the crank , undo those put new flywheel up and bolt it up and push trans back in place tighten everything up and your good to go

[69chevytrucker]

Lol you posted faster then i could type it

[geezer#99]

Leave the tranny in it and put new correct bolts and a starter brace on your starter.

[sstaten69]

you shouldn't need to remove the trans to change flex plate, I have done it a few times to change them out. Just undo the bolts that hold the torque converter to the flex plate off. Then move torque converter back towards the trans will move enough to get a wrench in there to remove the bolt from the crank. not to bad of a job doing this on our 70 nova this weekend. But when its all done as geezer#99 said new correct bolts and don't forget the starter brace. (my 68 chevelle would eat flex plates until I found a brace for mine) Good luck hope this helps.

[Big Kev-O]

How do you know if your flex plate needs to be replaced? I'm also using a mini starter and having the same issue. The teeth on the plate and starter look good but for some reason they start grinding after about 5 starts on a new starter. Where would one find the "right bolts" and brace?

[Matt Cramer]

One thing to check for.

The previous owner of my truck said that he'd fixed a problem with it eating starters by swapping out the flex plate. A couple months after I've been driving it, you guessed it - starter grinds and binds up. I pulled out the starter only to find that the outer bolt hole in the starter mounting pad had a fingernail sized chunk of metal missing from it.

Moral - if your starter won't stay lined up, check to be sure you're using legit starter bolts (they have a knurl on them to help make them fit snuggly) and that the starter mounting pad on the engine block is undamaged.

[Halltmja]

Thank you very much for all the info. I had a loose bolt so I torque it to 35ft lbs. truck started up right away with no grinding. So far so good!

[Halltmja]

Ok. My start does not hold the torque of 35 ft lbs. it becomes loose after numerous start ups. Went to 41 ft lbs and have to same issues. I need to re torque after a while due to the starter becoming loose. Any thoughts or suggestions? This is a mini torque starter due to headers and lack of room so I cannot add a bracket. The head on the bolts take a 1/2 socket head. How much torque can this take without snapping the bolt? Thx

[GASoline71]

Do you have the correct knurled starter bolts? Or just plain ol' bolts?

Gary

[Halltmja]

Whatever bolts that came with the starter

[Lee H]

GM starter bolt part number is NAL-12338064. Some of the after market starters and remans that have been milled may require a slightly shorter bolt.

GM starters
Delco P/N 6449 - offset bolt pattern, used mostly on SUV and truck blocks. For 14 inch 168 tooth flexplates.
Delco P/N 6442 - straight bolt pattern, used mostly on cars blocks. For 12 3/4 inch 153 tooth flexplates.

[Halltmja]

Went to the chevy dealer. He had no clue on what I was talking about. Any other suggestion on where to get these?
Thx

[Halltmja]

Picked up the part number listed above. Torque to 40 ft lbs with 3 washers on the bolt. So far no problems

[Halltmja]

Do I need to remove the tranny lines and linkage when I move the tranny back?

Thanks

[piecesparts]

Originally Posted by Halltmja

Do I need to remove the tranny lines and linkage when I move the tranny back?

Thanks

The answer to that question is undoubtedly a YES. There has to be no restriction to sliding the tranny back and those items are designed to be mounted when the tranny is in it's proper place.

If you are going to replace the flex plate, then I would suggest on getting a heavy duty flex plate. That would be one that has a SFI rating. I have had issues with standard flex plates cracking when the torque converter balloons from running and then having to get underneath and replacing a broken flex plate. Now for just a question, if you don't mind. When you mount your starter, do you actually use a feeler gauge to measure the depth of the tooth engagement into the flex plate gear? I use a large paperclip, which is the same size as the required feeler gauge wire and I take the starter solenoid off to get the starter depth measurements. Once completed, then I take the starter off an reassemble the solenoid back onto it and then mount like I did with the depth measurement. No issues or problems for many years.


http://www.powermastermotorsports.co..._GMMiniSta.pdf

[Halltmja]

Thanks for the tip on the heavy duty plate.
I do measure with a paper clip but the starter bolts come loose causing the mini start to move. Once I get everything done i will lock tight them.
Thank you

[piecesparts]

I have yet to have an issue with the bolts coming loose on my engines. Maybe there is a reason that they are not torquing into place.

[Halltmja]

Ok. Just finished putting a new flexplate in this morning. Upon looking at the starter mounting pad I have a hair line crack on the outer bolt hole. This might be the problem on the starter coming loose after a couple of months. If I red locktite that bolt in will that fix my problem ? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

[WIDESIDE72]

Originally Posted by Halltmja

Ok. If I red locktite that bolt in will that fix my problem ? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

probably not. IMO a new starter with correct bolts and brace are in your future, possibly a new flexplate, but try the starter new bolts and brace first.

[Halltmja]

Any recommendation on where I can get a brace for a mini torque starter?
Thanks

[outdoorsman310]

It would be good to change the starter or bendix while doing the flex plate to prevent damage caused by chewed up starter teeth.

[Halltmja]

Just out a new flexplate on but cannot line up the starter. The pinion keeps nicking the flexplate when I pull out the pinion manually.