Starter shims

[Daves69Coupe 10]

How many shims should be installed on starter so I dont damage my flywheel or starter.

 

I was testing my alternator and tach wiring and car was runing fine, no the car wont start and theres a grinding sound coming from starter/flywheel. SO I removed inspection plate to look at flywheel and had someone click starter, flywheel didnt move and it sounded like somethng was spinning in starter.

 

I removed starter and found (see pic)

 

is this because of not having shims?

 

The car had been started several times without times without issues then nothing.

[Daves69Coupe 10]

im gonna install the spare starter i have but wanna wait for an answer on the shims.

[Nightowl 10]

I never had shims on mine. What you may be hearing, is that the bendix as I call it, is not being thrown out to meet the flywheel, and what you are hearing is that part in your pic that is just spinning. There is a way to test that using an old battery by putting the post that the cable was on to the positive post on the battery. The rotating part should be facing you, and when you touch that post to the + post on the battery, you should beable to see that part spring forward and turn. Try your old starter, to see if it works. Make sure you wear gloves and hang on to the starter. If you have never done it before, the first time may surprise you. You might beable to also just use battery cables and hook it up to the battery to see the same thing.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Nightowl

[Mike65 476]

I have never known a Ford starter to have shims.

[1969 Mach1 14]

Ford's do not use starter shims. Unlike GM starters, the way Ford starters mount to the bell housing any type of shim won't affect the tooth engagement depth. If you have a starter drive (bendix as some call it) to flywheel gear engagement problem or excessive noise, there is something wrong with starter, wrong starter, or wrong starter and flywheel/flexplate combination.

[Klutch 17]

FWIW, based on my experience, whenever you have a starter problem, buy a new starter! I have tried replacing individual components. I have tried buying salvage starters. These always turned out to be temporary solutions. I ended up being stranded (again!) and having to buy a new starter anyway.

 

Some auto parts stores still offer a lifetime warranty on their starters. Last year the starter on my Jeep Comanche fried. I had bought it over ten years prior in another state. Auto Zone happily exchanged the fried starter for a new example. And, although I typically avoid buying parts from Auto Zone, O'Reilly and Advance Auto, I think since the starter lasted ten years, it was a decent part.

Edited September 23, 2012 by Klutch

[Lemon Owner 11]

Actually ford starters do have shims. I have a shim on my 302 cleveland with 4sp toploader. However not sure that this is the problem here.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Lemon Owner

[1969 Mach1 14]

Are you sure that is a shim. It may be advertized as a shim but it looks like a spacer to allow an auto trans starter to work on a manual trans. The drive gear on an auto trans starter extends out more than a manual trans starters and would need a spacer like that to work correctly on a manual transmission.

[Lemon Owner 11]

Yes it is a spacer and may be possibly the issue here perhaps? I do not know enough about flywheels to starter combination to comment further other than it may be the issue.

[Daves69Coupe 10]

Ok so its primarily a GM thing. A guy running past my house and saw my car came over to talk to me about the car and asked if I had starter shims and I was luck HUH? He was a corvette guy tho.

 

I switched out starter and everything seems fine