I'm having starter problems on my 84 camaro 383. When i go to crank it, it grinds against the flywheel bad. I know it more than likely it needs shimming. Does anyone know what the gap distsnce between starter pinion & flywheel should be & what can i use to measure it. Its a mini starter & 168 tooth flywheel. My guess right now is that its to close to the flywheel. Could i possibly be using the wrong starter bolts,They are of the same length that came with starter, should i use the original/factory bolts? Any help greatly appreciated.

 

http://cvrproducts.com/starter-technical-notes/
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/chev...nce-67704.html

 

Do I need to change starter bolts? Do I need to use starter bolts with the knurls. It's a marine starter so Im not sure if the bolts that come with the starter are useful for automobiles. I went through 2 starters, if I put a new one on it's pretty quite & works fine for a while then starts the grind again

 

Your supposed to use the bolts with the knurled ends. I would also assume your supposed to always use the new bolts. As long as they have the knurls. Thats what ive always done atleast. Im not sure if the marine starter is correct or not. I assume other then being more water resistent that it should be the same. As long as the teeth count are the same.

 

So would the bolts make it have that problem as far as grinding or is it a shimming problem. There are currently no shims on it now.

 

I honestly dont know for sure if the bolts would have that much affect. Its possible i guess, all you can do is try.
How are the teeth on the flywheel? Are they eatn up any?

 

They look pretty good they are not ate up, but I wanna get it right before it does damage. Also I have a small oil leak from dipstick will that cause starter problems. It's getting on starter passenger side dipstick

 

The leak wont affect it. My truck has a massive leak and it goes down the passenger side of the motor all over the starter and never had a problem.

 

Ok just checking, so u think I have a shimming issue

 

Most likely, and i dont know much anything about shimming them. Ive never needed to shim any of my starters.

 

Ok thanks for your info. I'm going to try to shim it & see what happens. I have to get starter rebuilt because it's making a whining noise now it's not kicking out to the flywheel.

 

Did you check clearances on them as you are supposed to when swapping starters?
What is "grinding" on the starters you are using up?

Only if the bolts are too long and don't hold the starter to the block tight' letting it shift out of alignment

 

Sounds like it's hitting the flywheel too hard

 

Most of those mini starters have large bolt holes, you can try first to just crack the bolts loose and move the starter away from the flywheel, then retighten them, if that dont work you can add shims, start with the thinnest one first, keep adding until the grinding goes away, you shouldn't need more then one or two.

 

Ok thanks I will try that. Just got my hands on another mini starter so is there anything I need to do different

 

What's the best kind of mini starter to buy that's not too expensive?