[leastbay]

I had got a new starter for my 85 silverado last month i got it from autozone i dont have the original engine in the truck and we couldnt read the numbers off of the starter. the cast is 3970010 . The guy was trying to find one that would match so his manager told him to look up one for a v6 and it matched. I installed the starter and it seemed to be working fine . I dont drive the truck much so it doesnt get much use.A couple weeks ago i notcied when i would try to start it it sounded like it was binding or something and the battery would wear down very fast trying to start it. So i climbed underneath last night and the cone was cracked all the way across. I exchanged it today and installed. It sounded like it was working fine then i tried it again and it started binding. I climbed underneath and sure enough it is cracked already and doesnt even work now. I checked the clearances torqued the bolts and everything what else should i do. I dont want to go back to autozone right now because the guy said he has never seen that happen before and i dont want them to give me crap about the warranty thinking i am droppping it or something. Please help me

 

[[email protected]]

When you took out the original faulty starter, were there shims between the starter housing and mounting flange? GM is pretty lazy at holding tolerances here and makes up the difference with shims. If your bell-housing is such that it needs shims and they are not there, the starter is breaking itself when it tries to engage the flywheel ring gear. Get a few shims at the auto parts store and see if that helps.

 

[DoubleVision]

I`ve been down this road, after my ride eating 8 starters.
First off, the bolts have shoulders on them, and the starter has machined notches where the bolts go in, the shoulders must fit into these holes with no washers on the bolts. After you get the starter in and making sure the shoulders are in the notches, tighten the he** out of them with a 1/2 drive ratchet. Also if the starter brace isn`t present on the other end of the starter, make sure you install one, this will also help it to stay put, but in most cases if the proper shouldered bolts are used and into there slot, then there`s usually no problems.

 

[leastbay]

no it wasnt shimmed but i think i found what it could possibly be i took it off again and there looks to be a helical coil spring in one of the holes and there is a little metal missing above it the starter seems to bolt up tight though but im sure once it gets going all of that torque is moving it or something. Could a machine shop fill it in and redrill it? My engine is almost due for a rebuild anyways .