I have a problem with my starter grinding when I try to start the car. It happens about 30% of the time. Usually it does it once or twice and then it engages normally. Sometimes - usually when in a crowded parking lot - it will do it 7-8 times in a row, broadcasting that unmistakable my-car's-a-piece-of-crap noise to everyone within a 1/4 mile radius (to paraphrase another post). It all started a couple years ago when I replaced my engine - which also included a new (used) flywheel/flexplate. Could I have put the wrong flexplate (i.e. 153 vs. 16X tooth) - or would it even engage at all if I had the wrong one on? I did a search on this topic and saw some references to shims but no specifics. Can someone tell me exactly what/where these shims are and how to adjust them? Or, if you think there may be another cause/cure please let me know. Thanks very much!

i have had that issue as well...but what my problem was was the starter was not compleately secure...cralwed under there...tightened both bolts and problem went away...tis may or may not be your issue...I dont knwo too much about flex plates and what not and how they effect hte starter...

i THINK that if your car is a 153-tooth and you installed a 168, it wouldnt fit. On the flip side, if you did ther vice versa, it wouldnt catch.

They are different diameters. 12.75" for the 153 and 14" for the 168 IIRC.

I put my 350 in, used the flexplate off the engine I rebuilt.

I dropped my Y-Pipe over and over again shimming my starter to get it to stop grinding.

Sometimes it wouldn't even engage, I'd have to get out of my car wherever I was, pop my hood, take a wrench and crank my engine over to get the starter teeth to line up.

Finally I pulled the flexplate off, took a piece of stock steel, put the flexplate on it, guess what, the used flexplate I was running was bent. 50$ flexplate from Pep Boys and that was that. (Well not really, then I found out the starter's throwout gear wasn't retracting, so after the car would start, the starter would scream because the throwout wasn't retracting, but as far as grinding and engaging, it was a flexplate problem.)

Try shimming it, but you should not need a ridiculous amount of shimming. I reshimed mine at least a dozen times before I just took the flexplate off.

Thanks for the reply. But what exactly does it mean to shim the starter?

Shimming the starter properly aligns the starter gear with the flexplate/flywheel. This allows for proper engagement between the two.

You should get several shims with the starter. You simply put the shims between the starter and the block, this lowers or raises the starter so the teeth have the correct amount of clearance.

When I was having grinding problems (before I realized it was a bent flexplate) I kept shimming over and over again, using washers to keep dropping the starter further and further to no avail. Again, once I put the flexplate in, no more grinding. You should not need alot of shimming, if you do, something is wrong.