Flexplate hitting starter gear.

[cleetus]

The flexplate on my 383 grinds my starter gear whenever I get on the throttle hard. If I baby it, it'll be fine, but as soon as I mash the gas, it turns ugly.

How much space should there be between the starter gear and flexplate teeth?

I tried to shim the starter in a bunch of different configurations, and all I succeeded in doing is grinding when I tried to start it.

Any ideas?

 

[cleetus]

It looks like the starter gear lies too far out of the housing, and this is why it's touching the plate.

Anyone running a mini-starter have the same issue?

 

[boyzbad]

Try shimming it closr to the starter. You should barely get a paper clip between the starter gear peak and the flywheel valley. I had to put a bunch of shims on the outside of my starter to get it to quiet down. Too far out is touching, anything else is ok. The stroke isn't going to put it past the flywheel.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a thrust issue to me. Some mini startes come with a round shim to push the starter away. Shimming it up and down will do nothing for your problem. I would measure thrust before i went much farther, if its ok then shim the starter forward.

 

[Hitman]

You need to be about 1/8 away from the ring gear. Your mini-starter should have come with two shims....one is round, the other is kinda triangle shaped. Those will move the gear away from the ring gear either .063 or .125 depending on their thickness.

Shimming up or down does nothing for your problem.

If you're really in a bind, you can just grind the front of the starter gear off 1/8...but that's pretty hillbilly, although I've seen it done.

Also, make sure your return spring isn't wore out. The gear should snap back all the way and stay seated when you pull it out with our fingers.

 

[cleetus]

It does snap back in and stay seated as it should.

The starter was bought used, so I don't have the shims you are talking about, but that is exactly what I need. Any idea if they're sold aftermarket, or can I try using bolt washers to get the distance I need?

Grinding off the tip of the gear IS really redneck, but hey, if it works.....

 

[Anonymous]

Washers won't do the job, you need the proper shim to fit between the motor housing and mount plate. They are readily available. Make sure you also have proper converter to plate clearance; needs to be 1/8" min to 3/16" max. Measured with converter unbolted/pushed back into trans and then see how far from mount tabs on converter to flexplate mount area. As to the paperclip reference that is what you can use to check proper distance from the block to shim the starter so the teeth engage the ring gear at the right depth.

 

[Anonymous]

Make sure that your converter hasn't ballooned up on you. If it has, it would push the flexplate forward and may cause this problem along with eating the rear main (thrust) bearing.

 

[cleetus]

Looks like a bent flexplate. Mother f^&*er!

On that note, I have a 383, and the flexplate has a lot of weights on it. I assume I'm going to have to get a plate for a 400, but what about the weights? Do I need to take the WHOLE engine apart to get this thing rebalanced, or can I just get a plate from a 400 and have that neutrally balanced? My damper is supposed to be a neutral balance, so where's this leave me?

 

[ProJunk]

If you have weights on the flexplate, then you should have an externally balanced rotating assembly. A good machine shop will be able to match-balance a new flexplate to your old flexplate, so it shouldn't be too big of a deal.