Hey guys, was wondering if you can help me out with this problem. I've got a powermaster mini-starter and an aftermarket flywheel put in about a few weeks ago.

Everything was running fine until about 2 weeks ago, I go to crank the car, and I hear a couple of loud "CRACKS" as it was cranking. I turned the car off, and decided to crank it again just to see what would happen. Instead of cranking, I hear a "thudding" noise, which I assume is the bendix drive hitting something (presumably the flywheel). After crawling under the car, I can see that the flywheel and starter teeth are quite close together. So, I bridged the starter terminals just to get a look as to what would happen... of course, when I do so, the starter cranks fine.

ANYHOW... fast forward to about a week ago when I finally decided to add a shim to the starter. After doing so, the car seemed to start without any problems. So, I take it for a drive to the parts store to get some other things. Just as I'm cranking the car to go home, it happens. I hear the engine cranking, but instead of hearing the loud "CRACK", I just hear a "THUD" and the car stops cranking. I roll the car back and forth in neutral, and eventually, after a few failed attempts (same description as just noted), the car is finally about to crank and fires up. I drive it straight home.

As I sat in my garage, I decided to crank the car about 15 times, just to try and repeat the problem, and of course, everything starts fine.

Anyone have any ideas to help me out? Should I add another shim?

thanks!

 

the starter in new you said so there should be no problem with the unit itself..the next time it crackles and thuds... stop everything and take a look to see if it moved back to where it did it last time... if it sits closer.. get another shim and make those bolts nice and tight

if it thuds and it looks like it hasnt moved then check your connections to the starter... tighten everything up a bit... make sure you unbolt the battery first.

 

I was in a rush once and made a nice fireworks display underneath my car working on a new starter.

 

thinking back to what I saw when I first crawled underneath,

The starter gear was pretty close to the flywheel, and it hadn't retracted all the way back into the starter. Should the starter gear normally be completely retracted and away from the flywheel?

 

thinking back to what I saw when I first crawled underneath,

The starter gear was pretty close to the flywheel, and it hadn't retracted all the way back into the starter. Should the starter gear normally be completely retracted and away from the flywheel?

 

Tske a close look at the starter mounting pad and bolt holes the next time you're under there. Some blocks have been known to crack in those areas.