I have a 1970 455. I have installed 3 rebuilt starters and they keep breaking the nose cones... I have shimmed the starter with the thinest shim in the kit and now it wines really loud and does not engage the flywheel sometimes, so i removed the shim and it broke the nose cone again. Any ideas as to whats wrong? The local parts store says they can't keep replacing my broken staters for free because thier must be something causeing it. Jerry
1. What do the teeth on the ring gear look like? Are there any teeth chipped or missing? 2. Timing too advanced. But that's already been covered. 3. Wrong bolts; do you have GENUINE starter bolts which are knurled at the block-to-starter area so the starter is properly aligned? I'd be installing those bolts with a torque wrench if the engine had a history of starter problems. 4. Is there a brace on the forward part of the starter--or just the two main bolts holding it to the block? Many starters are intended to be supported at the forward end.
If timing is not an issue then maybe look into this below : This has not happened to me personally. But just yesterday I was speaking with Tim @ TA Performance on the phone in regards to another small piece that wish to obtain. He mentioned that he had a guy had broke like 5-6 nose cones off starters and that there is a small "L" bracket that was original on 455 motors that over the years have simply probably got tossed. I am sure he said that he sent one to guy a now no issues any longer. I think he has a bunch there in stock. Original GM piece I think too. Call and ask for Tim and discuss. Good Luck Dave
bingo!!,a starter does not have enough tourque to break its' self:Brow: check the rotor cap.wires for cross-fire also,common overlooked problem.
thats total B.S.,if the starter is bolted in WITH THE CORRECT KNURELLED BOLTS AND TOURQUED TO 15 LBS,you shouldnt have a problem,if so its an ignition problem:bglasses: just my experienced opinion btw:laugh:
let me expand on this a bit...aluminum has a flex point,i'm not a metaluralist or anything,but,if you grab hold of a starter when it's doing it's thing(cranking the motor)it should "feel like it's working",but not jumping out of your hand.remember,the housings are x-amount of years old,been cranked on with 3/4 inch wrenches with whatever,by people that dont understand if you tourque it too tight,it actually WILL shift the torque converter & flexplate you just so perfectly installed,when it engages.just food for thought guys:eek2: this is a very overlooked starter problem,i cant stress this overlooked point enough!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really appreciate all the responses! Today I installed another starter and retarded the timing alittle bit. Car started like 3 or 4 times and broke the the damn starter again! While it was running my brother threw the timing light on it but we couldn't even see the mark on the harmonic balancer. Any Ideas as to why? The "L" bracket thing makes sense, because there is a stud on the back side of the starter (opposite the nose cone) and a threaded boss on the block. Anyone know for sure if these "L" brackets were a factory item or an urban legend??? Jerry (I keep going to different parts stores to get my warrantied starters replaced). Jerry Oh ya, Yes I do have the correct knurled bolts and no I never used the torque wrench on it but I did not over tighten it. Jerry Oh and this ignition cap and wires thing. The motor runs pretty good, no backfires or missing, although they were on the car when I bought it. Jerry Please help me figure this out. I'm more confused than ever now.....
Probably because the vacuum advance can was still hooked up. The correct way to time the engine is with the can unhooked & the vac hose plugged. If then you still don't see the timing mark, (a) the ignition is way too far advanced or (b) the outer ring on the balancer has slipped and the timing mark no longer corresponds with #1 at TDC. One way to verify this is to remove the spark plug and hold your thumb over the plug hole. As you rotate the crankshaft clockwise with a socket wrench, the pressure from #1 coming to top dead center on the compression stroke will just about blow your thumb off the hole. Once you're there, the timing mark should be at or near the zero mark on the front cover. Before you try the next starter, move the distributor clockwise about 5-10° to give the new starter some margin of safety in case ignition timing really is the problem. You won't want to run it too long in an overly retarded state, but at least it will give you a shot at seeing where it's at. Devon
Probably because the ignition timing is so far advanced still that it is off the factory scale. If you have ever been able to time it to spec the hole down clamp was at some point loose and the distrib moved or the timing chain is worn and it has jumped some teeth. Another possibility is that you are gauging the approx timing setting by where the vacuum advance is pointing. If so this may be way off if the distributor was removed and reinstalled one or more teeth off.
I was also breaking the starter nose. I final checked the teeth alignment (started gear to flex plate) instructions were included along with one of the starters that I broke and I found that it was not correct. I tried all sorts of shims and I could not correct. I finally maded a tapered shim (1/16" to 1/4") last summer and it corrected the alignment. So far it seems to work. To make the tapered shim, use a standard shim as a template. I used 1/4" flat stock from the hardware store and shape it on a belt sander until I got an even taper thinned to about 1/16 on one end and 1/4" on the other.
ledsled, i had this same exact problem....i fixed it by replacing the flexplate. my problem was caused by a cracked flexplate. stop burning through staters and replace the flexplate, it will fix the problem.
The L bracket is NOT a legend . It is for real and as many have said , it has been tossed by past mechanics being too lazy to reinstall .
Step one, no cost: Inspect the flexplate. Step two: Replace if necessary. I wouldn't replace just anything on a whim... Devon
