Hows it going guys. This is going to be a lengthy post for members who might run into the issue in the future. So,,, one day I took my 86 IROC to work. I noticed a squeaking sound coming from under the Camaro. It would only squeak on acceleration and go away on deacceleration. The squeak was not constant but rythmic like this,, It would not do it in reverse surprisingly. As a week went by, I turned on the Camaro, and now I was ending up with starter grind constantly. After talking to a few mechanic buddies, they pointed to bad u-joints and or a cracked flexplate. I had the 700R4 rebuilt over a year ago. So I thought that the tranny was going out. So I bought 2 Moog u-joints, burned out the nylon retainers from the OEM 38 year old u-joints. 38 YEARS OLD U-JOINTS!!!! Dang. With new u-joints in, I tested the Camaro. The squeak was still present. But now, my battery was taking a dump. Bought a Red Top. Starter started to slow down during cranking when it would engage with the flexplate with the new battery. Every so often, during testing, the squeak was gone. Other times, the squeak was present. I went under the Camaro, and checked to see if the flexplate to converter bolts where loose. All good. I checked for hairline cracks on the flexplate. No cracks. So I cheaped out and bought an ebay 1996 Camaro LT1 starter. It came in a couple days later. I installed it, and when the engine would turn over, there was a metal to metal sound for about 1 to 2 seconds. I threw my GoPro under to see what was happening. The bendex would stay engaged when the engine fired up for a couple seconds. After some research of starter "hang up", folks suggested shimming. So I took out the ebay starter, went to Autozone, bought an 1996 LT1 Camaro starter with lifetime warranty. Since I was ending up with starter grind and hang-up with this ebay starter, I figured it was time to get a new starter. I bit the bullet and returned my Autozone bulky starter (lifetime warranty), turned in the ebay starter as a core, and upgraded to an 1996 LT1 starter. I bought an 8 piece shim set to accomadate the new LT1 starter. I added a 1/32" shim and torqued the starter. Turned on the Camaro and WOW!!!!! No hang up and the way the starter sounds in incredible. At this point, I had replaced the battery, u-joints, water pump, and this LT1 starter from Autozone. Took the Camaro around the block. I was shocked to hear there was no more sqeaking sound. So replacing the starter was the solution. I would of never known that squeaking can be either bad u-joints, a bad flexplate, OR in my case, a bad starter. My best guess is that since my bulky starter was starting to fail, the bendex would stick out and ride the flexplate while I was driving, causing the squeaking sound.

Here is a video of the LT1 ebay starter hanging up. youtube.com/watch?v=JRBxHUNYlEc&feature=youtu.be