Someguywithacar

Alright so my starter broke a few days ago, the bindex wouldn't engage the flywheel and I had to tow it home. So I replaced it with a remanufactured one, got four starts then it happened again, towed it home AGAIN; replaced it again and same thing on sixth start. This time I started it ran it some, came back parked it then killed and started it four or five times so I wouldn't have to tow it if the starter broke. Having your car towed is embarrassing :emb: My flywheel is fine, no broken teeth I spun it 360. There's no smoke in my exhaust idles fine.

It's running fine, it will surge occasionally though with constant acceleration but I think that may be my fuel pump getting ready to go. I noticed my coolant was a little low, but I saw my water pump was dripping some so I filled it up and left it with that it went from full to quarter full in 4 months.

All I've done to the car since I bought it is spark plugs, wires, fuel filter, resealed the intake manifold and threw in ls7 lifters.

It's a 1995 firebird trans am. I know not a z28 but it's close. It's the lt1/4l60e and the whole care has 150k miles on it

lt1cruzin

Last time that happened to me the, flywheel was just loose were it bolts to the motor. you will have to pull tranny to inspect. No broken teeth. They also like to crack at the bolts.

Injuneer

I there anything physically breaking (e.g. - nose housing is cracking?), or is the only problem the failure of the starter gear to extend far enough to engage the flywheel ring gear? Have you been setting the clearance between the gears correctly when installing?

Someguywithacar

How loose would it have to be before it would make a difference? I can't jimmy it back and forth by hand

Nah there's no cracking or housing damaging of the starter, the bindex just quits engaging. The first one there was kind of a snapping noise then it wouldn't engage the bindex the two remanned ones just didn't engage on the last start. All having the same problem, the bendix is not extending at all or it's not extending enough.

No I haven't set any clearance or shimmed it or anything, I was told I shouldn't have to by two different trained mechanics. I bolted it in, torqued everything down to spec and that's it.

bw_hunter

ANYWAY...does the bendix strike the flywheel when it does come out? It'll make a pretty loud sound if it does. Add a shim or two to see if things improve. It's not hard to do.

If the starter and the battery check out, check out the battery cables...a corroded positive cable would reduce the available current to the starter and make it sluggish, both on engagement and turning.

KW Baraka

Check your oil for coolent......sounds like a blown head gasket to me.

KW

slick1hunting

I agree with kw. When my headgasket blew I thought it was just the starter but was hydrolicing and would hydrolock too if enough time didnt pass after shut down. Had the new starter in before I realized it. Wondered why it turned over so labored(found out in a few more minutes) oil was milkshaked. Keep an eye on the oil. Since no one else has said it replace your waterpump too before it causes you more problems(good time to replace cap and rotor too). Hope its just with the starter.

pizzi-man

Had the same problem and after having everything checked finally put in a new battery just for the heck of it and problem solved. Even though the battery checked out it was the problem.

Dtimekw

You mentioned it kicking out on one and on another one of them only kicking out a little. Was this installed or on the bench? BW_Hunter might be on the right track with shims. It's possible that it is overheating due to malalignment then you get into overcurrent, then heat and eventually high resistance causing failure etc....

Without knowing what's "broken" on each of the starters, it's tough to troubleshoot. Can you provide any more info on the broken starters?

Shot in the dark but are there different toothed flywheels/starters??

Someguywithacar

Alright gentlemen got home from work.

I didn't hear any metal on metal striking during any of the cranks. I would say I got four or five normal cranks out of the two remanned starters then on the sixth attempt the bindex just wouldn't engage and the motor just spins.



My oil is alright, non milky, it's a little darker than when it came out the bottle but it's been 1.5k miles; it's also keeping the exact same level, no more no less. There's also no smoke in my exhaust and it doesn't smell rich, lean, or sweet. I'll pop my plugs tomorrow, put a paper towl in the holes and turn it over once or twice just to make sure there's no fuel or coolant

When I was on my second starter I cranked it, took a 15 minute drive to make sure the car was running fine, parked it came back out two minutes later drove 15 minutes to town, parked it, came back out a couple minutes later from the store and the bindex just would not engage. The third one I drove it 10 minutes came back to my place, killed it and cranked it five times in a row and on the fifth time I only heard the motor spinning.

I see! I'll give it a try tomorrow morning and throw in a battery from another vehicle, I'm hoping it's something small like a shorted wire or a bad battery.

The first one didn't kick out at all and this one was on the bench, the second kicked out a small amount but not enough for teeth to even touch the wheel and my third followed suit as the second. Also the third and second "passed" the computers test but anyone with eyes could see that the gear was not kicking out or not enough. The motor and gear spun fine on all of them.

There's no damage to any teeth, on the flywheel or the starter it's just like the solenoid isn't working. The gear and motor spin fine but the gear doesn't kick out. And the starters look identical to the original, no change in teeth or teeth shape.


I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate yall's help, this car is my pride and joy... also my daily driver! Everything helps, except the slapping of my forehead when I look at the car!

bw_hunter

With no contact damage or indication, and a battery and starter that check out OK, the last thing to check is the battery cables. They're undoubtedly old, right?

Dtimekw

I would check the cables too and the connections to make sure they are clean and tight. Don't forget the negative at the block.

The think that concerns me is the bench test not throwing the bendix out. That's kind of a head scratcher but it does sound like a lack of current just not sure why it would do the same thing on the bench as it did in the car. What power source/cables did you use on the bench?

Someguywithacar

Alright guys, after I checked everything electrical, cleaned it all new battery and nothing wrong with the engine I let a mechanic have her and it turned out the flywheel is bent. It wasn't bent so bad you would notice by eye but if you checked it with a ruler it'd be clear. I'm not so sure how it bent, maybe an imbalanced flywheel or the bolts weren't tightened to spec when the tranny was rebuilt.

pinch83

My 96 lt1 starter keeps breaking the housing New flywheel and 4th starter help me please tell