Starter..false alarm..now what?

[GMCjunkie]

Sorry yall, I thought I had fixed it. I got rid of the ford solenoid thingie and wired it back the way it was supposed to,took the battery in , had it checked and fully charged. It fired up on the first turn and ran beautifully (tho the idle seems a bit high). I remembered that I needed to check the tranny fluid, went to start it up again and GRRIND! Geeze... I really thought I had it.

[kaycee]

I'm not gonna read all the other post but have you ever considered a hand crank lol.No really have all your wires been checked and battery cable been replaced ?bypass your wires and give the starter a full 12 volts with a jumper wire

[GMCjunkie]

cables are brand new, I just replaced them today. Battery was at full charge when I started it. All cables were tight and connected correctly.

[midnightexp]

sounds like you have a low voltage problem. check voltage on selenoid starter wire. I had this problem drove me nuts. replaced selenoid three timesbefore I got one that would send 12 volts to starter motor

[463]

and what is the battery voltage as of now? the battery might be low or the alt is not charging up to rateed output.

[crazy longhorn]

I have followed most of the posts on the 1st thread, & will come back with a few questions? I take it that you replaced the starter with a good reman? Have you installed new starter bolts? Did you add the front brace on the starter? Also have you verified that the clearance is correct tween the flexplate & starter(its important to do this in several spots), as the flexplate can be out of round ,warped,cracked ,ect. To go back over the checking depth, you DO NOT need to pull the soleniod off & pull it in to the flexplate (manually), to check it. Most all of the starter kits come with shims & a 1/8" check rod. If you can slide the rod tween the outside of the flexplate teeth, & the SHAFT of the starter(not loose, but not a force fit), you should be good to go. I will repeat my self tho.....you should check it several(say 4 places), to be sure the flexplate itself doesnt have a problem(out of round,warped, cracked,or possibly loose on the crankshaft). Is it possible that there is a spot on that flexplate missing a couple teeth?(I have seen that). It starts fine till the motor stops @ that 1 bad spot. I know an old Illinios "hillbilly" that welded 3 teeth back on a flexplate, & chopped em in with a diegrinder.....just because he didnt want to see the shop charge a gal 4-500 bones to drop her trans & change the flex plate I am sure that I have been over most of this the 1st trip.....but its really hard to say for sure without a look see, as to what is goin on. I will help if I can...crazyL

[GMCjunkie]

Battery was my next guess, it has went low a couple times, I chalked it up to just sitting for so long. Im going to take the battery back in and see what it is testing at, if its low again, then Ill take the alternator in and have it tested.

I replaced the starter 3x. Brandnew bolts (GM) I got the bracket, but I CANNOT find a bolt that will fit the hole in the block ANYWHERE, Its not 1/4, and its not 5/16 (I think that was the next size up)and there is nothing in between. I have not checked the space between the starter and the flywheel yet, because I thought I had it fixed. After it started grindingagain, I had to close up shop and walk away.

Thanks for your help. Im hoping to get some time this week to get into it again, Ive got English junk and a history exam this week, so wont have tons of truck time. We'll get it y'all. Thanks for sticking with me.

[crazy longhorn]

Ill try to get you a thead size on the block hole for the starter brace.....off the top , I think its 5/16" nc. It could be that the theads are "jacked" , & need a tap to chase em. If that starter is off (just a little on clearance), it will walk on the block. You do need the front brace Keep us up on where you are with it.....you have a bunch of truck buds(not bubba, or his cus willy,or leroy!) that will help you crazyAl

[bruceman1968]

Originally Posted by crazy longhorn

Is it possible that there is a spot on that flexplate missing a couple teeth?(I have seen that). It starts fine till the motor stops @ that 1 bad spot. ...crazyL

This is what I would check. All the teeth, sounds like you might have a bad spot on the flywheel with a few teeth missing or ground down..

[VetteVet]

If you remember my last post I mentioned that the solenoid might not be getting enough current to keep it engaged so it might be dropping in and out. I thought it might be the ford solenoid but it could also have been in the purple wire from the key switch. Barring any mechanical problems like the ring gear or starter shims , the only thing left is the Key switch the neutral start switch or the purple wire.

It might be worth a try to get a push button starter switch and use the key for ignition only. You could bypass the starter circuit that way and if it stopped grinding you'd know if it was one of the three things I mentioned.

[crazy longhorn]

Originally Posted by bruceman1968

This is what I would check. All the teeth, sounds like you might have a bad spot on the flywheel with a few teeth missing or ground down..

Thats what I am thinkin....He!! , have one of the kids grab the bottom pulley & give it an 1/8 or 1/4 turn.....then try to start it & see how it goes? crazyAL

[k5hart]

Originally Posted by crazy longhorn

Ill try to get you a thead size on the block hole for the starter brace.....off the top , I think its 5/16" nc. It could be that the theads are "jacked" , & need a tap to chase em.

5/16 -18. I checked for you the other night and posted it in the first thread. I agree that the threads may be messed up. I doubt they would be a different size.

[sjarrett71]

I know that there are 2 different flywheels for Chevy with 2 different amount of teeth. Does it matter which starter you get for each flywheel?

[oldgold70c10]

I've heard a lot of people say Chevys are known for wearing out the ring gear, though its never happened on any of mine. What about a dead spot in the starter?