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Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
I went to start my truck the other day and it cranked for a second, went clunk, and stopped. I tried again, and the same thing happened. Tried a third time, crank and clunk and stop. Fourth time it started, but sounded really bad while it was cranking. Ever since then, it hasn't clunked anymore, but it sounds really bad. What happened? Is it a bad starter, solenoid, loose starter. . . ?
It's a 1972 C-10 with a 350. |
Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
:lol: you haven't even checked to see if it's loose yet?
Welcome to the board! See if it's tight first and we can think on it some more. Don't try to start it anymore though until you figure it out. You will likely damage the teeth on the flywheel. |
Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
Will do. Thanks. I was reading, though, that shims are often used to position the starter correctly. How do I know if shims are needed, where do they go, and what do they do?
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If you replaced the starter and it started doing that, I would say shims. If it just started making the noise after working for how ever long, it's the starter. Stock starters have a plastic planetary gear set up and and will strip out fairly easy. Mine started doing the same thing. Took it to a guy that rebuilds starters and it was fixed in 30 minutes for $30.
Dale |
Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
Good to know. The starter worked fine (I don't know for how long. I just bought the truck recently.), went clunk several times, and now sounds terrible. I will make sure everything is nice and tight tonight. If that doesn't fix it, then it sounds like it's probably safe to assume that the starter needs to be replaced. Hopefully the noise that I'm hearing is the starter grinding internally and not the starter grinding on the fly wheel. . . .
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Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
If it did not grind the flywheel before, then it is highly unlikely it is doing that now. More likely that the starter needs to be rebuilt.
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Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
Good deal. Thanks for the info everyone. Now I just have to figure out how to get the old one out and the new one in without dropping it on my face. . .
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Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
I put 2x4s under it, kept the battery wire in place, and kept my face outta the way! Learned the hard way how much that hurts... With a busted lip!
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If you are gonna remove it, use a jackstand underneath it. It works perfect and wont let it bust your face
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Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
To know if you need shims... there is a little bar that comes with the new started.
You stick it between the flywheel and the pole that the gear comes out on. The little bar is the correct distance the 2 should be apart, so it should slide between the two, but not have a lot of space to do it. If it does, shim to fix. Shims on the outside edge will move it closer, and shims on the inside move it away. You can just break the little shims in half if you need it on one side and not the other. This is speaking from the experience of 10 starters destroyed before FINALLY figuring out what that little bar was for. Never had a problem since. Todd Edit: Oh, and for removal... Undo the wires FIRST... you don't want to break a wire or yank the little thingy off the end (speaking from experience... again) Then, break both bolts free, and remove one all the way. Once it's out, screw it back in with your fingers about 5 or 6 threads... then take the other bolt out. The one finger threaded will hold the starter and keep it from falling on your face. Now, while pushing the starter back up against the block (This will have it so that the weight of the starter is already being held) remove the finger threaded bolt. Then just ease it on out. If you have long tube headers... you will have to twist it around and crap... pain in my butt to say the least. Again... experience of replacing 10 starters. O'Reillys has a lifetime warranty... so they will replace it for free no questions asked. :) |
Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
Great info guys. Thanks for the help!
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Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
Incidentally, in order to use the little bar that the new starter comes with, you have to remove the flex plate/flywheel cover, right? I'm assuming a few bolts and it comes right off. Is that correct???
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Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
Should just be 4 bots for the dust cover but why would you need to remove it?
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Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
I was under the impression that you had to remove the dust cover in order to measure the spacing of starter from the flex plate. Can you do this without removing the cover?
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Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
Yes,the dust cover needs to come off to measure the pinion gear to flywheel/flexplate clearance. Juts four bolts. You can then also check your flexplate/flywheel for damage, cracks, broken teeth, etc.
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Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
Hell... I don't even have that cover. Is it necessary?
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Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
I would look for one todd, especially if your off the beaten path much in your truck, they keep alot of excess dirt and crap out...
One other thing please unhook your negative battery post first, I saw a guy with a metal watch on burn the crap out of his wrist pulling a starter off a sbc, it threw arcs everywhere! not to mention arc welding your tools to your solenoid! |
Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
.. dont forget the front, starter to block, brace, when you put the starter back on... very important.
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Now my curious mind wants to know what you found with the starter. |
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I bought the truck and the points distributor was loose. I'm pretty sure now that the clunk that I heard was the distributor moving when I went to start the truck. In the process of trying to get it started, I accidentally ground the starter, which wasn't shimmed properly in the first place. The grinding rounded off the edges of the starter gear, which was only just barely engaging the flex plate in the first plate. After the clunks, when the distributor moved, the truck started running terribly (timing was thrown way off). At this point, I decided to upgrade to HEI. Since then, the starter has continued to sound really bad. When I pulled it out last night, I noticed that the spacing between the starter shaft and the flex plate was way to big. So, tonight I installed a brand new (read rebuilt) starter, shimmed it properly, and she sounds great! So far here's what's been done: - Upgraded to HEI - New plugs and wires - New starter - New exhaust - A bunch of other small stuff |
Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
You have a build thread for this truck?
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Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
Glad to hear you got her purring good again, Mike. I had to change a starter laying in 2 inches of Slush in a parking lot one time, BRRR I shiver thinking about it....I bet everyone has a story like that tho....
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actually I have one that isn't starter related but bad none the less. I was mudding in my old 76 chevy about 12 years ago. It was a 1/2 ton 2wd with a posi and some monster 35x12.5x15 bfg mudders on the back. I set it up for mud racing. I went out one night with some friends in a heavy rain around midnight to play in some mud and I flew off into a bar ditch on this old country road that had a pretty big burm built up from grading the road. I went forward and backward about 20 times for probably 100 yards or so but I could never get the front tires back over that burm. On the last attempt (due to epic failure) I bumped the shifter while I was hard on the throttle and knocked it from drive to reverse. Snapped the yoke off the rear-end. I had to walk back to town, pull the yoke off my other 76 and catch a ride back to the truck. I had to dig out a "trough" so I could squeeze under my truck on my back with my face plastered against the frame so I couldn't even look at what I was doing. It was extremely claustrophobic and very messy. I had to do the yoke swap with my hands behind my head at arms length. I had so many cramps it wasn't funny and it took forever. Once I got it on I was able to finally get the truck over the burm and back on the road but the gears were shot. I could feel the rear-end "jumping" and I couldn't go faster than about 30mph. Even then it sounded like a sledgehammer under the truck. I don't know how I made it home. Fortunately the next day I just swapped the rear-ends in the 2 trucks and was back in the mud again the next night!! :haha: |
Re: Starter Clunked and Now Makes Angry Noise
Ahh yes, yet another reason to have a parts truck on standby!
Sorry to Hijack! |
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