Different starters in 400 series?

[ginoz28]

I have a question about the starter in my dad's 94 gmc suburban 1500. He bought it a couple of months ago and has been having trouble with.
I helped him today putting on a new starter and it looks like the teeth are to big on the starter and it's binding against the flywheel. We put shims in and it's still binding. The gear that slides in and out of the starter doesn't even slide back in.

Are there different starters for the 90's model gm full-size vehicles?

Closest pic I could get.

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[thz71]

Yes there are vortecs and tbis are VERY different

 

[ginoz28]

He asked for the right year and model and the motor and trans are original.
Does anyone know what teeth count are supposed to be for the 94 suburbans.
Or did all tbi engines have the same starters?

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[twomanymontes]

Counter jocky are not always the smartest. Pre-94 have a larger starter than the post 95. The flywheels do have different teeth counts.

 

[thz71]

The 94+ are about half the size of the previous

 

[ginoz28]

I tried the smaller style and the older style and both seam to not have enough torque to keep the motor turning. I took out all the spark plugs and tried and the same thing. I also tried moving with a ratchet on the crank and it was easy. ????

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[badazzbulldog]

check your cables could be time for new ones,they corrode under the casing. ran into this issue last winter on a plow setup i installed. a used car dealership started the install the power cables from the battery to the plow solenoid looked brand new everytime you hit the up control for the plow it would start to turn the pump motor which is basically a starter motor and then jam right up did brand new cable and boom up and working perfect

 

[ginoz28]

It ended up being the starter wire (purple) not making good connection at the ignition switch on the column.
My dad had hell with this for two months off and messing with it.

He already gave up when I was checking it.



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[ginoz28]

Thanks guys for the help troubleshooting and the info on the starters.

I'm still thinking the teeth should fit better to the flywheel.

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[83GMCK2500]

The flexplate/flywheel ring gear should be 168 tooth on all gasoline engines in GMT-400. Goes back yeaaaars longer than I have been alive for too. If your starter gear is not engaging I would be concerned that it is for a diesel or older application as they have a different pitch on the teeth. Prior to the 168 tooth there was 153 teeth on the gas engines and the diesels are 143 teeth. It is possible (unlikely) that the starter was built with the wrong gear or boxed improperly at some point. FWIW, I have always bought OE replacement parts until one from a parts house and it quit on me within a year, back to ACDelco parts. The parts house one required shimming (never have had to do with a Delco one) and was still noisy.