Starter nose cone breaking

HELPPP!! I have a 72 gsx clone , 73 455 w electronic ignition. I've had the car a year now. Recently starter issues happened. I pulled the starter and the case where the short bolt goes was broke and gone. Ok , purchased a remanufactured from advanced auto. 1 week later nose cone cracked and bendix gear broke in half. Got anther one.. 1 week later , cracked nose cone. I've read perhaps flywheel ( looks good but will check it again) battery is old, missing rear L bracket on starter. Thoughts?

 

What is your initial timing?

 

Is it kicking back? That's how I broke mine when the timing was too high. I also swapped to a mini starter that will crank anything. They have gear reduction and more torque so less likely to get kicked back.

 

Are you saying that the short bolt broke ? Replacement are not good you should ask anybody near you that has a original to give you one. I would give you one, just pay for shipping.. Bruno.

 

Not the bolt. The nose cone itself. I'm not sure what the initial timing is at.

 

I also tried a mini. The cutout to go around the oil pan hit and the celluloid hit the header. Perhaps the wrong part

 

I'm not too sure on what that would sound like

 

Would that problem happen all of a sudden?

 

When mine did it, it sounded like it was having trouble cranking and then there was a quick whirring sound like it was going to go ahead but it was the motor pushing the starter backwards and the two torquing against each other is what pushed the nose out to break the snout support.

I swapped noses with another starter that I didn't break but I was convinced a mini starter was the better way to go. On the plus side, I had a battery with a dead cell that was only holding 10.5V and it would still crank a few times and usually start before I figured out the battery was bad.

What mini starter did you use? Mine looks just like the original but half the size and 1/3 the weight. It clears the pan and the headers much better than the factory unit.

This is the starter I, and several other board members, used on our cars.

High Torque Mini Starter and it came with the correct bolts to install it.

This is my 350 car when we were putting the engine in but the 455 is the same starter and fits the same way.

 

When I replaced it the first time , it seemed to crank fine. Fired right up. The timing I backed off just a bit ( no light which is half ass but I'm new so ) The battery is old 2015. Cables look old too. Nice car sir

 

Off topic comment...

I see I'm not the only one who put the old kitchen in the garage!

Waste not, want not.




Devon

 

Is it grinding at all? You might try adding a shim.

Are you using proper starter bolts? They have to have a shoulder on them down by the threads that keeps the starter from wiggling around.

 

I believe the bolts are correct. I did have a shim in it. The wear marks on the bendix were 3/4 the way down the fin. Seems proper but

 

How would the timing effect it ?

 

Hi Ed,

When cranking, too much initial ignition advance causes spark & combustion early enough that the piston gets kicked back down before reaching Top Dead Center, preventing the crankshaft from rotating further to bring the piston down after TDC normally. The starter & flexplate take the brunt of that kick.

Initial timing was my first guess, too.

Devon

 

Hey Devon. Thank you for the explanation. Makes sense. When the AC Delco starter gets here and get it installed I'll get a light and see where it's at. What about the poor battery? I'll have that tested. Getting the missing L bracket wouldn't hurt huh ?

 

When I had pinging at the top I was told to back the timing a little. It took away the pinging. I retarded it too much at first a was a hard start so I bumped it up just a bit. I suppose a timing light would tell the story

 

Strong battery can help, it's a little more oomph for a higher cranking speed, which can overcome the early spark.

With a good starter and healthy battery (and cables and connections!), your plan to check timing with a light is best going forward. You might want to retard the timing a little like you did last time before initial fire-up just to be nice to the new starter, then see where you are with the light.

Devon

P.S. That little bracket usually got thrown away during the first starter change back in the day, can be hard to find, and hard to install.

 

Roger that !! Thanks again to you guys. Fantastic resource

 

I have never even seen one of those "L" brackets! LOL.