Something to be aware of with aftermarket starters.

When I replace parts on my 1989 GTA I like to installed stronger or high performance parts than the OEM.

A few years ago the starter went so I installed a Wilson gear reduction starter. Today I am at my mechanic's shop and we found that the bendix drive on the Wilson starter motor did not extend the gear far enough so that the gear only engaged about 1/2 of the length of the teeth on the ring gear of the flywheel. Now the teeth on the ring gear and the starter motor gear are all chewed up. We are going to look at some how extending the bendix drive on the starter motor or getting at longer gear on the starter motor.

Any thoughts? Any one had a similar experience?

 

My first thought is that it wasn't shimmed properly.

 

Shimming only affects the clearance between the top and bottom lands on the two gears, it doesn't change how far the bendix extends.

 

Unless there isn't enough clearance to let it fully engage.

 

Well the starter, transmission, clutch and flywheel were removed. A new ring gear was installed on the flywheel. The starter was taken to an auto electric specialist and disassembled. A worn bearing was found to be the culprit. We had the started completely overhauled at this time with a new drive gear installed. Everything was reassembled and it now works perfectly.