i was trying to start my car one day and it made a grinding noise and dident start, my starter was cracked so i took it out and put a new one in, the new one cracked in the same spot the first time i tried to start the car. it makes this terrible grinding noise when i try to start it and it wont start. whats wrong, there was no shims on the first starter, do i have to shim this one. also it seems hard to crank the engine by hand. any help, please

 

move the starter, take flash light and a small mirror and check the start ring gear. Make sure there are No teeth missing or broken. If there is, you will have to pull the tranny and replace the flywheel..

 

would a missing tooth stop it from starting all together?

 

when i said the starters broke, it was just the housing outside of the gear, it still seems to function though.

 

Where did u buy your starter? I had the same exact problem. I replaced my started with one i bought at Kragen. The old one wasn't shimmed, so the new one was not shimmed either. When i cranked it it scraped my flywheel and i had to get a new flywheel and a new starter. For some reason the starter from Kragen seemed to be different, even though it had the same part number. Get a new one from Auto Parts Plus or GM.

 

I would check other possible problems that might not make your car start. Such as the battery connections, alternator or even your clutch relay which is under the steering wheel. I had went through a big mess thinking it was my starter, it came out to be a clutch relay sensor cost only $5.77 and I had spent more money then that to figure out my problem with an assistant of help from auto technician that worked at the sunnyvale chevrolet dealership.

 

i guess i will try to shim it with some washers tomorrow, eventhough my old one dident have any. this starter i just got is a rebuilt one. probably a rebuilt autozone one.