What could be causing this

[Travis K]

I am having two problems with my truck:
1.) When I start the truck, the starter turns really slow and sounds like it is being bogged down. The battery and starter are both new. It is not grinding at all, and the truck eventually starts, it just does not sound healthy. Could the starter be too close to the flywheel and be pressing on it or something?

2.) After the truck is started, it stalls when I shift it into gear and a load gets put on the motor. The tranny is a new rebuilt TH350, and the converter is brand new.

Any help here would be great.

[chev74]

for problem #1: are you sure that you have quality connections for the positive and for the ground? Is this a NEW starter or a remanufactured one?

[Travis K]

Connections are good, I replaced the battery cables recently. Not sure if the starter is new or reman. Everything was cranking well before I did my tranny swap.

[haysonj]

I would check the timing it sounds like it may be retarded too much or your torque converter is binding. Try disconnecting the converter from the flex plate and see if it turns over faster.

[Eichorst69]

Timing may cause both problems.

Rob

[webbes]

If it started after you done the tranny then that is where I would start. Main for problem number two but I would do haysonj said and disconnect the tc to start with

[Eichorst69]

Could the distributor have been bumped when swaping the tranny?

Rob

[89 crew]

If you didn't block the back of the engine up when you dropped the tranny the distributer will hit the fire wall. if so that could tweak your timing. Heck if done hard enough it could bend the distributer. Did you change the flywheel, or starter while the tranny was out? If not then it shouldn't be able to change the gap between teeth. I would still double check the ground connection. to make sure it is good you can use jumper cables from the neg post to the block. If none of that helps it is time to go deeper.

[Sweet72]

The "new" starter snout may not be the correct one, causing a misalignment between the starter gear and the ring gear. manually engage the starter gear and check for interference or binding. I have heard you can also use a paper clip as a feeler gauge. Is the flexplate new? Is it the right diameter? There are two sizes of flexplates, a 53 tooth and 68 tooth I believe. The starter may just need shimming. The previous posters are assuming that the starter problem and engine dieing under load are related.

[clay68c10]

If your torque converter isn't splined up all the way on the trans front pump you'll get a pretty bad drag. An easy way to check that is if you can unbolt the converter from the flexplate and push it back far enough to spin it.

[BarryB]

Sounds like this guys already have you heading in the right direction. but I would check the clearance on the starterdrive and a fly wheel, It might be in a bind. Therefore, putting the starter in a bind.

[tsetsaf]

I vote the tranny/ torque converter issue. Only item that makes sense other than the distributor getting smacked.

[Travis K]

Thanks guys. I am going to test all of these ideas out tomorrow night.

[special-K]

The torque converter of bumped distributor are the two things that would effect both issues.