Starter problems sbc??????????

[geneo4116]

okay bought my coupe with 350 already in it,guy said he had a hard problem getting the starter shemed right but it was all good now,i ended up having new tranny put in car,and now it starts weird some times almost like the timings out but thats not it its the starter,today after driving around about an hour and a half in 85 temp,i shout it off it wouldnt start,sounded like the flywheel was getting chewed up,so i got under car loosend starter up pry on it alittle and tightened back up,heard something click a couple of times like starter was going into place,and now it starts,one of the bolts was kinda loose,can this happen if it not quite lined up corrrectly, are is there different shims for different model 350s, what say u

 

[tkkruzer]

not sure but it sounds like you have a 305 starter in your 350 , do you have a pic of the starter you can show us?

 

[geneo4116]

nada, no pics

 

[26Troadster]

305 and 350 use the same starters you have small flywheels and big flywheels, you also have hi and low torque starters, the way to tell the high and low is behind the sol. there is a copper bar that comes up out of the starter that a bolt goes through, if it goes straight to the sol. it is a low tq. if it has a spacer between the bar and the sol. it is the high tq. most big flywheel starter have the mounting bolts staggered, and the small have them straight across from each other.

 

[FlatBroke]

Geneo,
Keep this in mind...Chevy small blocks have always had a problem starting after they get good and hot. Might be a good idea to wrap the manifold or pipe where it is closest to the starter, ya know, with the heat wrap stuff...I think O'rileys sells it.

 

[donsrods]

Flatbroke is right, sbc (and some others too, at times) will experience "heat soak" where the starter gets hot from underhood, exhaust, etc heat and binds up. Let it cool down and see if it has changed. Some people put a shield over the starter to deflect heat, and some wrap the exhaust with insulating wrap to do the same thing.

Summit and others sell the shields and the wrap.

Don

 

[sneakysnake]

That chewed up sound is the teeth not meshing properly, Shims work but they are a hassle its my experience that the problem is in the casting of the starter. I recommend swapping starters over jacking with shims.

 

[51FordF1]

The starter needs a front brace....as they came from the factory with....That will stop it from moving around.

 

[geneo4116]

ok i swapped starter out,it has a front brace,still after you drive for 30 min it starts weird like alot of compression on motor,but its a stock 350,then drove awhile and took home shut it down restarted 3 times it started perfect,maybe its not grounded right,or timing needs to be backed off,so far not chewing any teeth on fly wheel yet,still first start up is perfect,after hhot starts weird,i do have a shield on starter too

 

[bob w]

I cured the problem one time with a big fat ground cable from the engine to the frame.

 

[cking894]

One thing you might try is wire the starter and the ignition separate. Use a push button for the start. When it's hot get the engine turning over and then turn on the ignition. You aren't fighting the advance on the timing this way and it should help.

Keith

 

[Ol Blue]

It may just be a bad solenoid. I've got a new rebuilt one on the bench now that after just a little use, the lining of the solenoid shrunk or started to come loose and the plunger doesn't want to kick out all the way or retract the way it should.

 

[26Troadster]

Flatbroke is right, sbc (and some others too, at times) will experience "heat soak" where the starter gets hot from underhood, exhaust, etc heat and binds up. Let it cool down and see if it has changed. Some people put a shield over the starter to deflect heat, and some wrap the exhaust with insulating wrap to do the same thing.

Summit and others sell the shields and the wrap.

Don

i cross out the gm sol. and use a ford sol. mounted away from heat and do pretty good, it was a racecar trick we used with the starter and dist. on their own swithes so they would crank easy when hot.

 

[sneakysnake]

Ive heard of it but it never made sense how a ford sol helps a gm starter.A GM starter uses the sol to engage the the bendix drive as it closes the contacts for the starter motor, so how is adding another sol any where in the circuit actually help? If the Gm sol could be bypassed then I would see the point but it cant.

 

[26Troadster]

wire the sol to the hot post on the starter, the add the ford sol to the hot cable, no power to the starter till you hit the key/button, it's something we had to do to our round track car for safety, plus it helped start the motor when hot when we had problems before.

 

[sneakysnake]

wire the sol to the hot post on the starter, the add the ford sol to the hot cable, no power to the starter till you hit the key/button, it's something we had to do to our round track car for safety, plus it helped start the motor when hot when we had problems before.

I see how that take the load off the gm sol except for the bendix drive, sounds like it just needed a new GM sol.LOL