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So I spent this whole weekend working on my 91 firebird, she stopped cranking and left me stranded until i was able to get towed home last week, so i changed the starter, and it worked fine for a bit, then i had to change my battery and alternator, but after all that, my car won’t start again! i got stranded again last night and had to get towed again, i need to figure out what this problem is, please someone help, i just want my car .
to describe the problem, it grinds when i crank it, but it was starting just fine early yesterday, when i got stranded yesterday i tried to crank it and it was grinding for awhile until it stopped grinding and the starter just started whirling. any help is greatly appreciated, thank you.
also, the big thing i need help with is figuring out what parts to order, my engine is custom built and has an 89 blazer bottom half and a 91 camaro top half. 5.7 L V8
Sounds like the starter wasn't shimmed properly. might have to replace the flex plate. can remove the torque converter cover and use a flywheel turner rotate the engine and try to start.
If it’s a 350 Lo5 just gets flexplate for a one piece rear main 700r4 like original application L98. It’s a 153 tooth flexplate.
Thank you guys for your suggestions, me and my step dad have both taken a turn under the car, and the flex plate is in really good condition, when he worked on the car he said the bolts on the starter were very loose, which is weird because i used the torque wrench on them, i think the starter may be coming loose because after he tightened everything down it cranked like it just came off the showroom floor, but by the end of the night yesterday, it was back to making the same grinding noise.
You need to make sure also that you are using the correct starter bolts. They are different from regular bolts and are needed for the starter to fit and hold well
There are no washers on starter bolts from the factory.
Do you have ACTUAL starter bolts? Not just some random cute ones that "fit"?
they’re the ones that were on the car when i first got it, i’m pretty sure they are starter bolts, i don’t know the difference though so someone please enlighten me, i’m going to jack up the car today and take the bolts off, i’ll post pictures when i get them off
Real starter bolts have a section right behind the threads that's larger. The block has a larger dia hole at the entry, with the threads starting at some add'l depth down in there. The large section of the bolts makes a kind of "dowel pin" arrangement, to positively locate the starter, and keep it from loosening the bolts.
The 1st 2 classic symptoms of using the wrong bolts are, the starter misaligns itself and grinds; and the bolts back off and get loose. The 3rd classic symptom is when the gorilla comes along and strips the threads by tightening them to try to get it to quit doing the 1st 2.
You can get the right bolts in the Help! section of misc hardware at the corner parts store.
Note: it is also possible for the starter to make a grinding noise, if the battery voltage drops slightly...
The Bendix may not fully extend and mesh with the flex-plate.
Note the sort of "knurled" section right behind the threads. That's what makes em special.
And the holes they go into
thanks for the pictures! i bought a new set of starter bolts but all of them are long bolts, and the bolts i took out of the old starter are both long as well, am i making the same mistake as the previous owner? i’ve been running some experiments and it seems that one of my bolts keeps backing out only after i take it for a drive, i’m thinking either my bolt hole for my starter might be stripped because the bolt that was in it before wasn’t a starter bolt, or, my motor mounts are knocking it out, since they are very worn out, or a combination of the two. appreciate your help!
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