Starter issues, again.

[motornut]

i was looking for this pic
it shows the wear,hard to tell "on"the truck tho

figured the guy put the 305 one back in with the 350,like the fuel pump

[jdheff1982]

I am contemplating replacing the starter bolts when I drop the starter again. The tranny I have is a 1975 TH-400. What are the bolt specs I need to look for? Thanks!

[67CC]

Originally Posted by jdheff1982

Here is the part that baffles me, I drove my truck today at around noon. Quick 5 minute drive to the store, drove back home. It sat from about 12:30pm to 6:00 pm when I tried starting it again. Should be no reason for the starter to be suffering from heat after sitting for 5.5 hours. I did not have a hot day temp wise either.

Last chevy I owned (1983 Gran Prix), I had starting issues with it as well. Is this a trait common with chevy motors?

Don't know how common, but not unique. My Dad had a Buick in the mid-70's with the same problem. Buick 350 too, not Chevy.
That really baffles me too. Something REALLY sticky in the starter? Intermittent cell in the battery? Intermittent solenoid? Those kind of things are a bear. Think if you get a new starter, flywheel, and the heat shield you should be OK.
As for grounds, the factory ran a ground from the driver's rear, outboard valve cover bolt to the frame(?) . Seems a lot of people never reconnect them whenever the do anything to the engine. Try that if it comes to it.

[jdheff1982]

Originally Posted by 67CC

Don't know how common, but not unique. My Dad had a Buick in the mid-70's with the same problem. Buick 350 too, not Chevy.
That really baffles me too. Something REALLY sticky in the starter? Intermittent cell in the battery? Intermittent solenoid? Those kind of things are a bear. Think if you get a new starter, flywheel, and the heat shield you should be OK.
As for grounds, the factory ran a ground from the driver's rear, outboard valve cover bolt to the frame(?) . Seems a lot of people never reconnect them whenever the do anything to the engine. Try that if it comes to it.

Quite honestly, I think it is the headers that are installed that are killing the starters. This last starter I put in (about 3 weeks ago), worked very well. Then over the course of the last 2 weeks, it started acting like the battery was low, but it wasn't. Then just recently, it grinds the fly wheel when trying to engage (but it doesn't grab). I have a heat shield coming in tomorrow. Hopefully, I will be able to get the starter swapped and the new shield installed in the next couple of days. If the shield resolves the problems, then heat from the headers are the culprit.

I will definitely get a another ground cable to run off the engine to the frame.

[tucsonjwt]

This has nothing to do with the grinding issue (flywheel, starter drive), but have you considered a remote solenoid? I hate to bring this up because it was a hotly discussed issue (pro and con) a few weeks ago and it will likely bring out both sides of the issue again. The "heat soak" issue is identified as a condition of cold start OK, hot start like a dead battery - really excess heat causing excessive resistance in the wiring - or, take your pick of other theories offered regarding heat soak.
I have read that GM had a shorter/weaker spring used for big blocks to help with the heat soak engine, and that NAPA solenoids still use this type of spring - don't know if this is true.

Here are some discussions, including heat shield and GM starters:

http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/sh...hp?tid/166101/

Light GM solenoid spring:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/65-66...-/360360427675

Reference to NAPA and GM part numbers:

http://www.binderplanet.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=86431

[jdheff1982]

I got the morso heat shield installed. I did not replace starter as it was acting proper. Not entirely sure how much life it has left. Did get to see some fireworks while I was fitting the shield to the starter. It grounded out onto the headers. It was a rather PIA install as usual.

[502ms]

It is definitely a heat issue. I have headers and experience this anytime I run hard, and the engine bay is feeling toasty. I will look into wrapping and shielding the starter.
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[jdheff1982]

The current at the time I installed the heatshield finally died. This last starter is a bit different, but has been holding strong for about a month now. The heat shield fixed the heat absorbtion.

[502ms]

and before this, I was thinking it was the battery, until I wired up the gauges, and I am looking at 14 V while driving and 12.5 V when left overnight or after driving. That made me think hard at the culprit...and yes, it has to be heat. Funny story, I was changing spark plugs on the truck, and wanted to fire it up for a second to make sure everything was good before I started on the other side. I promise you - I let it run for no more than 10 seconds. When I went to touch the headers then, they were super hot....and mind you, the truck had been sitting all day. LOL. Those headers are very toasty.

[jdheff1982]

If you are getting reman'd starters, keep an eye out as to the terminal style. I have encountered a 2 terminal and a 3 terminal. The 2 terminals died very quickly and seemed to have a much harder time cranking than the 3 terminal version. Not certain what is different on the inside, but the 3 terms work better.

[allchevy58]

I had the same problem after installing 454 in my 83. Shop said batteries okay, starter was pulling too many amps meaning it was bad. Went through 4 reman starters, they built me a starter with a welded armature, $100.00 just for the armature, I made cables with welding cable, installed heatshield, seem to do it more after warm. Put up with it for well over a year or so. One day it wouldn't start after stopping on a trip, I pulled my jumper cables out and jumped it from the second battery and it fire right up. Next stop, I bought a new main battery and never had that problem again.