Improper Starter Engagement

[LTZ C20]

I'm sure there are a few different ways you could figure something out using a starter motor.

[LTZ C20]

Check out the header wrap dudes.

Top side, did 2 laps around the rear tube just to get the wrap started.



In both of these, it looks like alot of overlap but doing it on the truck, on my back, with my LED flashlight and the underhood lamp, it's not to bad. It takes time to cover the outside of a corner too, you keep going over the same area on inside of the corner but the outsid has way more space to cover.






Even with gloves on, this stuff is so itchy it's stupid lol.

[enaberif]

Header wrap = fiberglass

When working with header wrap long sleeves and gloves and when you are done wash everything including yourself in cold water.

Also just be careful with header wrap as it can trap moisture and rust out the headers.

[bd]

I agree with enaberif, the wrap will accelerate rusting of the exhaust.  But, seeing how the collector crowds the starter, a starter blanket would not provide nearly the heat protection afforded by the wrap.

[LTZ C20]

Yea fiberglass sucks haha. I did think about water getting in there but I didn't think about it rusting. It's 2wd so it never goes river rafting, only time the whole engine actually gets wet is once in a while when I spray the dust and dirt off. Plus the headers are ceramic coated and the headers are only about a year old, I think I got awhile before I have to worry about rust. And I always start it after I wash it so it drys quickly. I touched it real quick after I got to work, even right after I shut it off, I could touch it for a few seconds which is better than not at all with no wrap. That stuff really works.

[fitz]

As far as the header wrap goes, I don't think rust is a major concern.
When I bought my 69 camaro 15 years ago, it had a set of Hooker super comp headers with exhaust wrap on them.
My best guess is that the headers were installed in the late 70's.  I'm not sure what year the wrap was installed.  The headers were wrapped from the head flange all the way to the collector.
I kept those headers on the car until 2005 when i installed a rebuilt small block.
When I installed the motor I installed a new set of Hooker ceramic coater headers.  The new headers were installed just for an updated look, the old ones were still holding up just fine.

[LTZ C20]

Yea, I'm not worried at all.

[LTZ C20]

Well I'm back here again gents. The starter on the pickup is toast again. Tried to leave the store Walmart Saturday night, made a few half grind/half turn over noises and then went full grinding. So not being in the mood to diagnose it in the lot, I had AAA send me a hook truck, towed it home, dropped it in the yard and bounced, went to the party I ended up being an hour and half late for.

This morning preformed my diag, starter gear is stripped out, there is a crack in the body on one of the mounting bolt bosses, the flexplate in unharmed (thank goodness). I've replaced that thing once already.

So all the clearances where good and it had a few shims but everything was in check, not sure why the gear stripped out. That's the second gear reduction unit of roached. I'm thinking compression is to much for it to handle.

So the questions now is, do I just replace with a direct drive unit or a direct drive from a big block, I've heard those will bolt up no problem but have more torque. Do I replace with another small block gear reduction or a big block gear reduction.

The truck has a late 90s Vin letter "R" 350ci block, 1 piece rear main seal, matching GM flexplate and 1 newly stripped off GM gear reduction starter.

Maybe a cheap unit from the O'Reilly, friend of mind did that on his truck and has never had an issue, my 97 Silverado has a reman direct drive starter that was on it when we bought it and it works great also. Both the 97 and my truck have the same engine block, flexplate and transmission. The truck is basically a high performance version of the stock drive train in the 97.

[blazer74]

Look into a high tq mini starter, hear they are the best route to go. Will be my next starter.

[LTZ C20]

Look into a high tq mini starter, hear they are the best route to go. Will be my next starter.

I looked into it but my understanding was that a factory gear reduction starter was the same thing. More torque due to the gear reduction setup instead of direct drive. But I've killed a few of those already. I'm wondering if a regular replacement direct drive for a 97 Silverado would be the best thing to do seeing as how my lower end is the same as a 97.

[blazer74]

Good quality new unit?Hard to know what that is these days tho.

[LTZ C20]

All 4 starters I've torched have been brand new AC Delco units. I just bought a new Ultima direct drive for a 97 and a reman direct drive for a 70s truck. I'm going to install both starters, and then inspect fit, clearance and operation and see which seems better. The 70s starter came with shims the 97 starter did not. My 97 truck has no shims and no support brace of any kind. A 70s starter may require shims and does require a support brace.

[blazer74]

Interested.     Lot of (new) GM parts are Chinese sadly.

[LTZ C20]

Yea, only thing wrong with the one I took off this morning was the gear is stripped. I mounted up the 70s reman unit, starter clearance is good with 1 shim. It fits, I have an old heat shield that fits on it and I have a support bracket I started to fabricate but never finished that looks like it will fit. Now I'm gonna try the 97 starter, which has no heat shield or bracket provisions. I did not hook up wiring and test it tho. Want too try fitting the 97 starter first.

[blazer74]

Better the bendix gear failed then the flex-plate/flywheel.

I've got a bad spot on my flex plate that shows up at the most inopportune times.