The starter in my car was just replaced about a month ago. I replaced the old one because it would crank, then hesitate, crank, hesitate, etc etc. Now hear is the problem with my new one. It all depends on the day. Sometimes it will crank fine, some days it will crank/hesitate like my old one did, and sometimes you will hear the starter running but it sounds like it doesnt catch the flywheel. What could cause this to happen? Is the starter bad? Do i need shims?

 

Are the bolts tight ?
Not being insulting at all. I thought mine was fine, until it just stopped. Had it replaced, and then immediately knew the old one had been bad for quite some time. The long bolts that hold it together had been loose for who knows how long. Caused it to draw about 450 amps crank.
The new one, spinning fast, draws closer to 225 amps. A bad cable, positive to the starter, or ground to the block, will cause a slow or hesitating crank like you have, and with normal or low amps.

They do need to mesh correctly, but they usually make bad noises if they don't.
Most common cause of spin without engaging is grease where it doesn't belong.

 

Yes, i just doublechecked and the bolts are tight. It still continues to miss the flywheel every now and then, and keeps on doing the hesitating and cranking issue.

 

Any other ideas?

 

Today im going to get my battery and starter both tested to make sure they are alright. One thing i noticed is that my postivie battery cable will not fully tighten up all the way to the battery. Does this seem like a possible cause for the crankning and hesitating issue?

 

Is is making a clashing noise? Make sure you are using the block-to-starter brace. It is often omitted, often resulting in drama. Also make sure you are using the factory-style knurled bolts as they handle alignment.

 

It isnt making a clashing noise, and the factory bolts are still being used. The brace that holds the starter to the block is not there, and it hasnt been there since i bought the car.

 

Besides the positive battery cable, where do the other wires that go to the starter's solenoid end up. My shop manual lists them as engine wiring harness and thats as far as followed them. I just need to know where they finally end up.

 

YES ! If it's bad enough. The starter draws a few hundred amps from what's effectively 10 "D" cells in series. In reality, it doesn't take much resistance in that circuit to screw things up.
If any of your clamps, or connections gets hot, that's a BIG clue.
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If you're points ignition, one to the key switch and one to the coil.
If you're new enough to be electronic, then one to the key switch, and one to tell the ECM that you're in "crank" mode.

 

Well i can forget about the battery cable not tightening up since i fixed that problem but the starter continues to do the same thing. Any ideas of what else to check?

 

Back to basics.
Voltage at the starter battery terminal, and the current while it's cranking.
Less than ten volts is not good. More thann about 300 amps is not good.
Maybe less amps, depending on your particular setup.
Compare to a similar engine that works for ball park numbers.
Low voltage is a bad battery, cable, or connections.
High current is high load, either bad starter, or the engine.
Low current ( significantly low ) is a bad starter.

 

Where do i check all of these, at the positive battery cable?

 

Current, in series with the pos. cable, or with a clamp-on meter on the pos. cable.
Clamp-on for DC is not a common item, but they are out there.
Voltage, I'd start at the pos. bat. post, then the clamp on the post, then at the starter.
If you don't see 10 volts plus at the post, you're pretty much done.
If you do, then at the starter post.

 

Well yesterday after trying to crank the engine over, it turned over perfectly fine. Tried it a couple more times and still worked perfect. This is the odd part, once i let the fuel pump turn on (was disconnected while i was cranking the engine over) the cranking problem came back. Was it just a coincidence that the problem came back when the pump turned on, or could this somehow be causing a problem?

 

Well, that's a horse of a different color !
What's the ignition timing while cranking ?
Too much advance could cause what you're describing, but if there's no fuel to burn, then advance wouldn't do anything.