cracked my starter!

[supersize75k5]

today went to pull the buggy out and I heard a loud clunk.. walked around and nothing, cranked over againg and another clunk.

it cracked the cone and broke it right off a 3 week old starter on the big block also wasted my flywheel I could care les about the cost of a starter I just am mad I have to yank the tranny now

ive heard of them breaking when you tighten them down, but never while starting. prier to this I had no noises or whines and the flywheel was new as well.


fluke? or ever heard of it?

 

[muddermilitia]

hmmm maybe the bolts had worked their way loose. Awhile back my brother was trying to start his M-37 and I looked through the wheelwell and saw the starter moving up and down as he cranked. The bolts ended up being loose somehow

 

[lectric80]

It happens more than you might think, and is usually caused by a minor crack in the housing. A few starts and the nose comes off. Sometimes it will only crack, and bind the starter, other times it does just as you described.

 

[supersize75k5]

the crack was not near the bolts.

 

[lectric80]

Usually the ones I have seen are nowhere near the bolts. The crack originates in the nose, and pretty much makes the nose housing useless.

 

[supersize75k5]

this just follows whats under my screen name

 

[lectric80]

Another cause of this issue is the bushing in the nose. If it wears or is incorrectly sized, it can allow some slop in the rod that can cause stress on the nose. You can pick up a nose for cheaper than a starter, if there is a local rebuild shop. Much better solution than replacing a new starter.

 

[johnnychimpo]

I have a friend that just went through this w/ a Caddy motor. We found that using new starter bolts eliminated the extra "wiggle room". The old bolts he had been using looked fine but the knurling had flattened over the years and left too much clearance.

Check the clearance of the bolt holes on a new starter w/ new bolts before you leave the parts house, we had to check a couple (remans) to find one that was snug.

 

[big dan]

I had a truck that starters would break like that. couldnt drive my truck for nearly two weeks cause the starter would start the motor one time and then break. turns out the timing was a little too fast and caused the motor to kick back when I was starting it which put too much stress on the starter and broke the housing. Ive also seen it happen from loose bolts.

 

[Hossbaby50]

I did that once to the starter on my SBC. Cracked it just like that. The stater was about a year old. I did it when I was cranking it and accidentally hit the starter before the motor had completely stopped from the last cranking attempt.

Harley

 

[pauly383]

I changed the solenoid on my original starter , once you have a good one you don't let it become a parts store core , and you don't buy a parts store core .

Shawn if you have a 168 tooth flexplate , I have several lying around .

 

[supersize75k5]

I cant remember but I believe they are different from the small blocks, ill look into if and give ya some money if one will work

 

[rcamacho]

Are you running a support on the rear of the starter? It adds a lot of rigidity to the assembly thus helping avoid broken starter housings.

 

[sandracer799]

The exact same thing happened to my brother and the big block in his Jimmy

 

[cegusman]

Are you running a support on the rear of the starter? It adds a lot of rigidity to the assembly thus helping avoid broken starter housings.

x2 This is a must for us 6.2/6.5 diesel guys. If not we break the starter bolt ears of the block.

 

[Jason4x4]

I did that once to the starter on my SBC. Cracked it just like that. The stater was about a year old. I did it when I was cranking it and accidentally hit the starter before the motor had completely stopped from the last cranking attempt.

Harley

That happened to me in Moab...

 

[kitimatdude]

I had a truck that starters would break like that. couldnt drive my truck for nearly two weeks cause the starter would start the motor one time and then break. turns out the timing was a little too fast and caused the motor to kick back when I was starting it which put too much stress on the starter and broke the housing. Ive also seen it happen from loose bolts.

I had a similar problem the distributor got damp inside from mudding and eventually the centrifugal weight springs rusted away. it was getting too much initial advance. I busted all my spare starters and once melted a battery clamp before I tracked it to the distributor. I blamed the shims weak batteries and everything else I could think of. Wrecked the ring gear too.

It would start great when cold then barely turn over when warmed up. Hope this helps.