B-Man Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 Last year the nose cone on my starter housing cracked, which lead me to replace it and also fix a tremendous amount of wiring (not me, previous guy(s); see below link if you're interested). I've never gotten past the screeching sound that the new starter and ring gear make, and have always meant to address it earlier rather than later. But here I am! I bought the Procomp Electronics High-Torque Mini Starter PCE393.1032 from Summit Racing (link below). I installed it with no shims, 2 thin shims, and then last night all the shims I've got. But still I get that same screech. The only thing I can think of is maybe there is a tooth-count mismatch. But I dont have a good way to get better clarity on that. Any thoughts? Any other thoughts on what I might try, or whether this is just the wrong starter for the job? Summit Starter Link - https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdm-pce3931032 My 'General Wiring' thread where I first mentioned that I was replacing the starter, for reference only Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragCat Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 I believe I used a power master mini on my 454 back in the day , no issues worked like a charm. That was a stock block no headers or other mods at the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 @DragCat, ok thanks for the input. I cant imagine that the starter / ring-gear engagement, or the starter itself, is supposed to sound like that. It's that high-pitched, metal scraping sound that to me indicates a need for more or less shims. I guess I will keep playing around with it. And will keep ear plugs in each time I start it, ugh!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jft69z Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 You can't just throw shims at it randomly like you're doing. You need to measure the clearance and go from there. You need to have proper knurled starter mounting bolts too. Here's a couple ways to check: https://static.summitracing.com/global/images/instructions/sum-820323-os starter inst.pdf https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c1-and-c2-corvettes/4264063-starter-gear-not-disengaging.html#post1599257070 One more. Sometimes you have to use a shim inboard, outboard, half a shim, etc.: 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 1 hour ago, jft69z said: You can't just throw shims at it randomly like you're doing. You need to measure the clearance and go from there. You need to have proper knurled starter mounting bolts too. Here's a couple ways to check: https://static.summitracing.com/global/images/instructions/sum-820323-os starter inst.pdf https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c1-and-c2-corvettes/4264063-starter-gear-not-disengaging.html#post1599257070 One more. Sometimes you have to use a shim inboard, outboard, half a shim, etc.: "You can't just throw shims at it randomly like you're doing." > Well, I can and I did, I just shouldn't, haha! Thanks for those references. And you're right, I should go ahead and measure and be more quantitative about the shimming process. I'm not sure if I can recall ever measuring the tooth clearance on any of my cars over the years, and there have been LOTS. I've always just shimmed until it sounded right - always worked for me in the past. And I've never done the half-shim thing, but the need to do so sometimes is obvious of course. And again, you're right The challenge (and resulting laziness) with measuring is of course the headers. And also because it's pretty messy under there. I've yet to degrease and hose it down from the previous owners usage and disasters over the years. Excuses, excuses ... again, you're right. I will get under there later tonight or this weekend and take some measurements. I might even try and take some video with sound and post it here just everyone can learn from my laziness and impatience Thanks again @jft69z 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott S. Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Just a quick mention..... Probably not the issue, but when I swapped a 350 into an '80 el Camino that originally had a 305, I had what sounds like a similar problem. Seems I forgot to switch the flexplate, (I was young once... and dumb..) and that was what was causing the binding as I reused the 305 starter. Two broken starters later, I pulled the transmission and put in the right flexplate. But, like I said, if the drivetrain has never been apart, it's probably not the issue. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 @Scott S., completely relevant and worth mentioning on this thread for posterity. But as you stated, likely not the issue given that there hasn't been a drivetrain swap. There is in fact a slight diameter difference within the lineage of Chevy flywheels across the years, but again I don't think that's what I'm dealing with here. Appreciate the input though 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott S. Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 As the Supreme ruler of all Universe Space and Time, is there anything you can do to help lower gas prices ???? Or has someone else got the job of ruling matter and energy ???? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant MacPherson Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 When I bought my 70 SS it had a mini starter (not sure what make) horrible noise, sounded like wrong gears. Replaced it with a new (took 3 to get one that worked) Sounds great now, those were new delco not remains. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted March 31 Author Share Posted March 31 Well, as suspected there is not really a good way to measure the clearance with this particular starter model. There doesn't seem to be a way to manually pop the pinion gear out and mesh it with the flywheel ring gear. Any more thoughts here guys, before I start randomly trying the less, half-shim approach? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted March 31 Author Share Posted March 31 A few minutes later update - all of the shims have been removed. Still has that 'needs to be shimmed' sound, but maybe not as bad(?). I might just run with it for now. Or might start the half-shim thing tomorrow. We shall see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jft69z Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 I had a few of those style starters (Power Master & NAPA). It's not easy, but entirely possible to pop that gear out, hold it in place, and measure the gap. There is a simpler way that I used, but not for everyone I imagine.... At any rate, I ended up sending them all back. First, I couldn't get them to 'clock' properly for header clearance, and second, I forget the exact amount, but had to remove something like .030 from the mounting surface on one of them for it to fit properly. Sent it back as defective, the replacement was just as bad. A big waste of time on that style starter, at least in my case. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragCat Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 6 hours ago, jft69z said: It's not easy, but entirely possible to pop that gear out, hold it in place, and measure the gap. There is a simpler way that I used, but not for everyone I imagine.... Saw on Roadkill, if you don't have the gap tool the end of a zip tie is about the same size 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jft69z Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 43 minutes ago, DragCat said: Saw on Roadkill, if you don't have the gap tool the end of a zip tie is about the same size Or a paper clip, according to a lot of sources. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott S. Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Montelishi came with a power master mini starter.... Last summer my starting started to act up, started to drag and grind. I thought it was the starter but it wound up being that the battery was on it's last legs. New battery cleared up all the issues. Just a thought..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted March 31 Author Share Posted March 31 @jft69zand @Scott S.,yeah I'm sort of leaning towards "is what it is" for this ProComp "mini, high torque" starter. I will have to look back but I had put a similar style starter (not sure the brand / model) on my '68 Lincoln Continental with a 462ci engine. I had 'heat soak' issues and the higher torque helped solve that. But I don't recall it having the "shim me, please" sound. Anyway, I just put my MC down on all 4 for the first time all winter. Runs great! And the starter is what it is. I will report back if I ever get a final solution here. But I will just ignore it for now 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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