Starter shim?

[Steven Petersen]

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I installed a rebuilt Delco starter from 1994 last Saturday in my 88 350. The old NAPA unit was slow, but never made any grinding or whining noise. The Delco reman came with a shim in the box. I did not install the shim simply because the old starter did not have one. With the Delco starter, it turns over much faster. I did notice a slight whine after it fires, but nothing outrageous.

Today I go to start it and it clashes/grinds the 1st attempt. Try again and no grind. It only does it very intermittently. But it does have the light whine after releasing. I should try the shim, right?

 

[Schurkey]

Sure. Did they give you the "thin" or the "thick" shim?

I've seen every combination--thin, thick, multiple shims, shim on only one of the two bolts. You might need to buy additional shims at the parts store, or use a cut-down shim. (Thin wheel alignment shims work great if you don't want to cut a starter shim for one bolt.)

Make sure you have the brace on the front of the starter that bolts to the block; and the special starter bolts.

There's instructions in the service manual for measuring clearance between starter and flywheel. It's a pain in the ass.

 

[Steven Petersen]

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Sure. Did they give you the "thin" or the "thick" shim?

I've seen every combination--thin, thick, multiple shims, shim on only one of the two bolts. You might need to buy additional shims at the parts store, or use a cut-down shim. (Thin wheel alignment shims work great if you don't want to cut a starter shim for one bolt.)

Make sure you have the brace on the front of the starter that bolts to the block; and the special starter bolts.

There's instructions in the service manual for measuring clearance between starter and flywheel. It's a pain in the ass.

The shim that came with it is at least .080. My manual and parts catalog mention .015 and .040 shims. The manual says to use a maximum of (2) .040 shims.

Yes, the original starter bolts were holding the NAPA starter on. Well I’m not sure they were original, but they were definitely starter bolts with the knurled shoulders.

This pickup did not have any kind of starter brace. The parts catalog only shows a brace for 6.2 Diesel engines. I do seem to remember the braces being on newer K1500’s that I’ve worked on. But it’s been 20+ years and I’m just not sure.

 

[Steven Petersen]

I put the shim in and everything appears good. No grind and no whine.

 

[man-a-fre]

Now give it a little time to crack your outer starter bolt hole on the block, from not having the starter support bracket you should have.

 

[Steven Petersen]

Now give it a little time to crack your outer bolt hole on the block. from not having the starter support bracket you should have.

Can you post something showing it is supposed to have that bracket? It seems odd GM would have left it out of their own parts catalog.

 

[man-a-fre]

Gm 3965589 may help you, but you can just leave it off if you want, I wouldn't. Heres an picture of one style many variations will work. . https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-3965589

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

Gm 3965589 may help you, but you can just leave if you want, I wouldn't. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-3965589

I just went and looked at my 88, it has a stamped steel support on the back of the starter. I can barely see it through the header tubes and couldn't get a picture of it from above. I'm not going to crawl under the truck today, ha ha. Mine is nothing like the one in the link, YMMV.

 

[Hipster]

Put the brace on. It might never crack the block dangling there, but if it does...........the common repair is to have the block brazed..

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

You also need to check that the starter bolts are not bent. If they are, they won't torque properly and can crack the block hole or screw the threads up. Find a known flat surface and roll the bolts on it, with the heads hanging off the edge of the table or flat surface. If they're bent, they won't roll straight.
One of the many times I had the starter off my Burb, I felt like I had bent bolts, because I was having trouble getting them started in the block, and they just didn't feel right. So I went to get lunch with Mom (she was fetching tools for me while I was under the truck). I'm rolling the bolts on the table at Wendy's ( it was nice and flat and level) to show her they were bent and we needed to go down the street to the parts store to buy new ones. The manager at the Wendy's accused me of taking their tables apart! And I'm thinking " what the fk kinda crazy customers do you get in this place? " No, I haven't been back there in a few years.....

Also check the terminals on the starter solenoid; they can be loose too. Been there, done that....