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Swaped in auto trans now having problems with starter

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RedRebel69

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Fond du Lac,WI
Hey guys hoping u can help me here i been struggling with this issue for awhile. So i bought this truck an 82 k20 and it had an sm465 in it but then i found a th400 so swaped that in and now the starter with no matter how much shimming i do just engauges for a couple turns and then just grinds on my flexplate. I also dont think its a defective starter because i used the stock one and then a mini high tourqe out of a boat and the both do the same thing. Could it possibly be that the flexplate is 168 teeth and the starter has 9 teeth? Any help would be very appreciated thank you!
 
well the starter for 168 teeth should have 9 teeth, so that is not it.
And the starter you had with the SM465 should work on a th400, the only thing I could think of is, the flexplate, is it new, could the teeth on it be bad?

RedRebel69 said:
Hey guys hoping u can help me here i been struggling with this issue for awhile. So i bought this truck an 82 k20 and it had an sm465 in it but then i found a th400 so swaped that in and now the starter with no matter how much shimming i do just engauges for a couple turns and then just grinds on my flexplate. I also dont think its a defective starter because i used the stock one and then a mini high tourqe out of a boat and the both do the same thing. Could it possibly be that the flexplate is 168 teeth and the starter has 9 teeth? Any help would be very appreciated thank you!
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I dont see how it could be the flexplate i just replaced it a week ago, allthough it was a cheaper one but it still does the same thing my old flexplate did. Perhaps ill just have to try and keep shiming and checking it. It just frustrates me that it does this when it should be a simple bolt on and go. Thats for your help
 
The couple times I've done my own engine/tranny swaps, the starter has never sounded like it does on a factory car. It always sounds like the alignment is bad (although it has always started the engine).

are you sure you fully seated your torque converter in your TH400? If not I suppose it is possible that the torque converter is pushing your flexplate towards the engine a bit, possibly making the ring teeth not line up with the starter gear when it is extended.

I'm not sure if this is possible, but thought I'd throw it out.
 
Big6ft6 said:
The couple times I've done my own engine/tranny swaps, the starter has never sounded like it does on a factory car. It always sounds like the alignment is bad (although it has always started the engine).

are you sure you fully seated your torque converter in your TH400? If not I suppose it is possible that the torque converter is pushing your flexplate towards the engine a bit, possibly making the ring teeth not line up with the starter gear when it is extended.

I'm not sure if this is possible, but thought I'd throw it out.
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I had torque converter in tranny and had bout 1/4 to 1/8 inch play between converter and flexplate meaning i could spin converter without it hitting anyting so i dont think that would be the problem or i could be wrong...

And y5mgisi i did sit under truck and watch it engauge it would either go in halfway or completely miss flexplate when i would shim
 
RedRebel69 said:
I had torque converter in tranny and had bout 1/4 to 1/8 inch play between converter and flexplate meaning i could spin converter without it hitting anyting so i dont think that would be the problem or i could be wrong...

And y5mgisi i did sit under truck and watch it engauge it would either go in halfway or completely miss flexplate when i would shim
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well are you sure you have the flexplate on the right way?
I know it's physicaly possible to bolt it in flipped backwards, that could explain this.:dunno:
 
By half way do you mean the teeth engage half way front to back or half way top to bottom? Also, do you have the little support bracket on the back of the starter going to the block? I have in the past had a starter/motor combo that required me to actually shave down the the starter itself by about .020" or so. I had another one that only worked right when i used no shim on the inside bolt and the fattest shim in the multi pack of shims on the outside bolt only.
 
y5mgisi said:
By half way do you mean the teeth engage half way front to back or half way top to bottom? Also, do you have the little support bracket on the back of the starter going to the block? I have in the past had a starter/motor combo that required me to actually shave down the the starter itself by about .020" or so. I had another one that only worked right when i used no shim on the inside bolt and the fattest shim in the multi pack of shims on the outside bolt only.
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I was just going to say that.
You need to see where the gear are when engaging and then see what you need to do to the starter to make it go where it needs, wether twisting it lifting it off or dropping it in. and yes half way on the teeth is your clue you're still too far.
 
Well guys i got the starter as perfectly shimed as possible and then realized it was the starter that was bad it would engage, turn the motor over a couple turns and then disengauge on its own so i went and got a new starter and hooked it up and good as new with no shimming needed at all thanks for everones help i really appreciate it good to have some guys to go to with answers
 
RedRebel69 said:
I also dont think its a defective starter because i used the stock one and then a mini high tourqe out of a boat and the both do the same thing. !
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but I thought you said here, you don't think it's the starter since you also tried the mini starter.
The starter was my first thought because the cone gets messed up and alignment issues happen and engagement issues happen.
You let it drag out longer than needed by throwing us off like that.:dunno:
 
No i tried the stock starter and then went to the mini high torque and they were both doing the same thing so i tried shimming it and finaly after enough trys i saw that the gear would engage all the way and then the starter would disengauge on its own it wasnt slipping off of flexplate so i went and spent 30 on a new starter and that fixed it wasnt trying to hassle anyone just get some helpful suggestions from people that may have had the same issue
 
RedRebel69 said:
No i tried the stock starter and then went to the mini high torque and they were both doing the same thing so i tried shimming it and finaly after enough trys i saw that the gear would engage all the way and then the starter would disengauge on its own it wasnt slipping off of flexplate so i went and spent 30 on a new starter and that fixed it wasnt trying to hassle anyone just get some helpful suggestions from people that may have had the same issue
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It's good that it solved now, but your first post made it take longer because you said, you know it's not the starter, because you already tried another and it didn't change anything :thumb:
I am not saying I didn't do that in the begining, but now I make sure that the part I am assuming is good is indeed good.:waytogo:
 
I think we deserve a pic. Can you post one? Use picturetrail.com to upload one and past the "forum link" into your post...
 
Big6ft6 said:
I think we deserve a pic. Can you post one? Use picturetrail.com to upload one and past the "forum link" into your post...
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you asked and you shall recieve. i admit right now it doesnt look like much but im putting my build thread together and from what it was its alot better
photo.jpg
 
Hey man, I think it looks great! Must have been fun drivin' it for the first time, congrats. Thanks for the pic.
 
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