I have a power master high torque starter. For my 350. Well after replacing the oil pan gasket and so on, I went to put the starter back in and the bolt snapped, so I fixed all of that. Well I went to start the car and it grinded for a sec, and the car died everything did until I let off the key, so I shimmed it out and I put my phone under to see what's going on and I can see it spin for a couple secs, then the Bendix gets stuck out. Any ideas?? There's no miles on this starter. Just 10-15 starts.

 

Either wrong starter or add more shims.

 

The mini starter I have is the one for 153, or 168 without the nose cone. Would not enough shims cause it to jam like that and kill the car?? I took a video and it spun for a few secs then got jammed again.

 

If it is jamming the gear ,then reasonable to assume starter is too close
Adding more shims will move the gear away from the flywheel.
The aftermarket starters may not be to the same dimensions as a OEM starter ; Trial and error til you get it right,

Plenty of online info on how to set starter up correctly
http://www.marinemechanic.com/site/page169.html
http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=110657

 

I shimmed it with every metal shim that it came with from autozone a little over a quarter of an inch thick.

 

grease the bendex shaft.

 

How do I grease it?

 

Did you check for correct Bendix gear to flywheel tooth clearance as outlined in the links I posted?

 

I did I can fit more than an 1/8 of an inch drill bit into the gap. I have a pic but can't post it from my phone.

 

use a q tip and dab it on the shaft , may or may not help.

 

Well now all my engine does is click. I charged the battery all night.

 

Sounds like starter went out. I never heard of a duel 153/168 starter. I put an aftermarket high torque mini on my 406 and only used 2 shims. Bummer them power masters arent cheap.

 

Ok get ready for a very difficulty explanation. Ok so I took my starter down wiring and all and everything still looked brand new on the terminals. Bench tested and it worked
So I hooked it up and shimmed it to1/8 of a clearance. I used a wire and ran it from the battery to the battery terminal on the starter and it spun like it should
Put it to the ignition switch and it popped out and tried to spin. But after it got stuck when it clicks I cab see it trying to spin the flywheel it tries to budge but can't.

 

 

So the motor itself is fine

So the problem is with the solenoid.
Possibly the contacts in the solenoid that pass the power to the motor are not making good contact; putting through enough power to throw the gear out but not enough to spin the starter over when it is engaged to the flywheel?

 

Yes, that is my starter. And I think your exactly right, that's what I was going to say next. I saw summit sells a solenoid for around 30.

 

I read some where about high torque starters, that they're not meant to crank long. And that cranking them for a long time causes the connections in the solenoid to melt and crap out.

 

1/4 or even 1/8 sounds like alot of shims. In most cases I have seen 1 or 2 shims is normally all that is needed.

 

Little test .
Disconnect the Pos cable from the battery
At the starter solenoid ,take that cable off the top terminal and put it on the lower one that goes to the starter ( make sure the cable it is not grounded to anything else)
Run a short jumper wire from that terminal to the small solenoid terminal that your purple starter wire went to.( leave that wire off.)

OUT OF GEAR !!!!!
Firmly touch the main batt cable to the batt Pos terminal.
If the engine cranks over then you know the solenoid terminals are the problem because by wiring as I say you have bypassed them and put power direct to the starter motor (as you previously tested.)

If you still have the jamming problem ,then you have a alignment problem somewhere

 

If the starter solenoid is the problem, then instead of fixing / replacing it you could install a Ford style remote solenoid
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/upd-sw-3

like guys do when they have the common starter solenoid hot soak problems
See
https://www.thirdgen.org/solenoid

This does exactly the same as the test I outlined above but gives starter switching from the key

 

I believe I understand what your saying and will try it tomorrow afternoon. I think I'd do the push button start if I went that route.

 

Sorry can you explain that again?? I have 3 wires, one for ignition one from the battery and one for something else. The screw in the picture of the starter is where my ignition goes and you can see a wire on the terminal on the oppisite side of that is another terminal for the 2 wires.

 

I had exactly the same problem.
Check the starter is still working by the above method and if it is then suspect battery cables and earth cable.
My battery cable looked fine on the positive but had broken up inside the clamp.
Cut it back and re-terminated it and it was fine.

Worth a check !

 

Well my possitive terminal cable has been shot for a while but works. I ordered a new positive cable and ordered the solenoid just because they're on back order and its going to take 2 weeks to.ship. plus it avoids the hot starts.

 

For the purpose of the test we are not concerned with the other wires that supply power to the car from the terminals on the starter.
All we are trying to do is see if the starter work correctly
Depending on your starter it may be easier to leave the Pos battery cable where it is and run a heavy jumper
wire to the other big terminal
( as well as a small jumper wire to the terminal were your purple starter wire goes
However you go about it ,you need main batt power to this terminal , the one that goes to the motor itself
which is how you wire it with the remote solenoid anyway

 

Ok I tried to wire it and it did nothing. No click, no spark. Nothing. Until I remove power to that terminal then it will click again.

 

You are doing something wrong
It is wired no different than what you did before to get the starter motor to spin

I used a wire and ran it from the battery to the battery terminal on the starter and it spun like it should

except the extra small wire should make the solenoid throw out the gear

 

Yes the small wire just makes it jump out. But for some reason I get no power unless that terminal doesn't have power.

 

Well the battery won't even charge anymore. Has about 3 volts. So I guess 100 dollars for a new battery is needed.

 

If the battery doesn't fix it. Send the starter back to powermaster, don't try a remote solenoid. I've had good experiences with their warranty and service. Just call their tech line.

For anyone else looking for a starter, Rock Auto has a clearance on the LT1 mini-starter, remanufactured AC Delco, for $70. Was only slightly heavier than my powermaster mini starter but a world of difference in spinning my motor.

 

Called up summit, they told me they can send me a solenoid for free or I can send the entire starter back and have then re-warranty the starter. Amazing customer service and will order from them again.

 

Ok got a new battery, new solenoid hooked it all up, and it cranks and I got a pop sounded like someone hit a bongo drum and then nothing but little pops, doesn't turn over. I'm assuming its because I removed the distributor and it moved a little, didn't think that mattered sense I have vaccum advanced but ill try to set it to tdc then try.

 

Anytime you move the dist you have to reset the timing correctly with a timing light.
(Vac advance only works when the engine is running )
In any case ;if the timing is out the engine should still crank over
may cough , splutter , bang , pop ,backfire , try to start and doesn't but should still crank
If it isn't cranking over you still have a starter problem

 

Yes, I put it back on the marks and rotated it counter clockwise and it fired up, sounded rough at first but fired and idled rough but I gave it gas and it ran better than ever. Now I gotta buy a timing light.

 

If you need one one the cheap, Harbor Freight sells 2 different models. Buy the better of the 2 , I think I paid $20 or 25 for mine. The better one will have the adjustable advance dial. Its nothing real fancy, but does the job just fine. Mine has held up well for a couple years.