Best starter heat shield
 

Dad's old 83 sat up for awhile, and when I got it running again, I had to put a new starter on it.

Starter works great when the truck is cold, but after driving it, when I turn the key I usually get clicking (assuming the solenoid) and then it will finally turn over slowly and start.

Now from what I've found sounds like heat is affecting the solenoid.

Do the solenoid heat shields work ($10 Dorman) or do I need to get something else?

Anything else it could be? Starter tests good, so think it's just heat sink.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

FORD EXT SOLENOID:metal:

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Guessing that means don't use the GM solenoid and put a Ford style on instead? My CJ's use a Ford solenoid up on the inner fender.......

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

You should not have starter heat soak unless you have a big block. With a small block you should just need a good starter/solenoid.

I have a 454 and have a heat soak problem. I have dual start batteries, remote Ford solenoid, GM high torque mini starter. I still have a drag on the starter when the engine is at operating temperature but it always starts. I have never had heat soak on a small block.

I tried a metal heat shield with the stock 454 starter on my 73 and that did not help. Dual start batteries did help some, but still a drag on the starter when hot.

Be advised that some posting here vehemently state that starter heat soak does not exist - you just have a bad starter, solenoid, wiring, battery, etc. - so be prepared to hear opposing views.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

I've wondered if I shouldn't replace my + cable.

Battery is good. Starter TESTS good, but then again, not like they're testing it while it's hot.

That said, I took the starter back when it started dragging, and they replaced it, and the new one does the same thing, so that leads me to believe it's the cable or solenoid/ something other than the starter.

Battery is good.

I've also seen that on some later models there are fusible links that sometimes go bad and cause hot starting issues. Any of those on an 83?

Trying to narrow down here.

Thank you for the replies thus far.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Check the cable sometime when it is giving you trouble. Hook the volt meter from the battery positive to the starter positive stud. That is, measure the voltage between the two ends of the cable. Then try to crank it. If the voltage goes up over about half a volt, the cable is bad. They rot out inside, and it can be temperature dependent.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

I had that dreaded big block starter heat soak problem on my '90 SS. Started fine when cold and sometimes when warm. Bought a new high amp battery and a gear reduction starter. Haven't installed the starter yet, new battery has been starting it for a year now.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

one thing i know that helped alot on a dump truck k30 with headers and the pto right on the trans was running bigger cables i think 2 or 4 gague and running a neg right from batt to starter. amp have to get back to batt give it the ez way.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

had the same issue with mine. tried the starter shield, but that was a waste of money.
Installed a new starter from a mid-late 90's 5.7, bolted right up and now it starts like a new truck, always. :metal:

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

This guy is 100% correct!

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

The days of big heavy bulky starters are past.

Any time you need a starter, look the parts guy in the face and tell him "98 model Tahoe with a 350".

You'll get one of these little fellas. They are tiny and crank like a mule. Even problematic applications suddenly become easy starters. I paid 80 bucks total for this delivered from Rockauto.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...5054cbd2f5.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...02c6c477d1.jpg

That's not some piece of sh!t either, it's a brand new Remy starter. GM knew what they were doing when they started equipping trucks with these mini starters from the factory.

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If I am not mistaken I think the smaller starter is a gear reduction like the newer ls starter. It gets the strength from the gear reduction so it can have a smaller motor. The larger starter depends on the brute force of the motor.(no gear reduction)

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Just to throw out a slightly opposing viewpoint. I had a starter heat problem on an old 72, a cheap foil/kevlar heat shield wrap fixed the problem.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

That's what I was wondering. According to my old school thinking, there is no way that puny starter can crank like a big one. It must be gear reduction. The small size will definitly give it more header clearance. Thanks for the hot tip tx firefigher, my starter is on it's last legs so I am going to try one of those mini starters. :metal:

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

I haven't opened one up but it must be a planetary gear reduction. I have one on my Suburban and it is great and another waiting to go on my SS. Plenty of room around exhaust and easy to install and remove. Takes less amperage too. I will never buy another big bulky starter.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Starts my 406 hot cold anytime the same way everytime. And will start with a marginal battery fairly easy.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

I've had the same problem with my truck! First check your battery + & - cables, then make sure the area where The starter meets the block is clean. Then follow the little line from your starter to your fuse box and check to see if that is Burt broken or any other problem with it. I did that and BAM figured my problem out.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

I had a bad + cable on one of the Jeeps that gave me fits. Looked fine but was bad inside the sheathing.

The + battery cable on this GMC is a long sucker, and I guess the factory routed them to make it a PITA to follow the path.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Use the 98 Tahoe starter with 2ga battery cables (including the negative side) and problem solved.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Amazing how many people upgrade the positive side and neglect the grounds (yes multiple) on these things. I've just started swapping out some of the electrical on my Green Jeans project and made a HUGE difference already.

Feedback on the Tahoe starter is GREAT too. Starts my 11:1 compression 350 with timing advanced to the absolute limit with ease, even at full temperature on 100 degree days this summer. 1.75" headers and no heat shield either.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Wish I'd known that before I bought the starter that's on there now, which has a lifetime warranty......

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Well, I tend to go overkill on electrical stuff anyway.....but there's reasoning behind my madness-I'll spend a lot of time just eliminating voltage drop to as little as possible-it can be tedious but armed with a multi-meter I aint skeered!

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

I'm an ex-grounding auditor for Nortel Networks and used to test entire telephone company central offices for power and grounding differences and spend months isolating this, binding that, burying these, welding those... Added to being a stereo geek all of my life. I know where you're coming from!!! :metal:

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Well, the starter finally gave up the ghost yesterday. Drove it to town, and it wouldn't start. Had a guy tap on it while I was turning the key and it fired off.

Was going to drive it to Autozone this morning and drop the starter in the parking lot, but wouldn't budge, so I took it off in the driveway and brought a different vehicle to work.

Guess I'll swap it out one more time and see if I can get one that lasts, and if it craps out again I'll go the 98 Tahoe starter route and see if that does any better.

I've heard horror stories about reman starters and alternators from Autozone, but I've got two Jeep CJ's and have put Autozone reman starters and alternators on both of them and haven't had any issues out of them in 10+ years. Maybe I just got lucky with the Jeeps.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

I just had a local auto electrical shop install a Hitachi high torque mini starter and heat shield as was suggested elsewhere on this forum. I already had the Ford remote solenoid and dual start batteries. This replaced the GM high torque mini starter. The shop verified that the starting, charging, and electrical systems were in good working order.

I still have a slight drag on the starter when hot, but only about 1/3 as bad as with the GM mini starter and shield. Some of the hard start may be due to vapor lock. So, this covers all known cures for BB heat soak. I guess that this is the best I will ever get. I would still say that on a small block none if this should be necessary, unless headers are involved.

I bought this heat shield on Amazon but I think they are all about the same:

Amazon.com: Unversal Starter Heat Shield Barrier...

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

old topic sorry. My starter in my 64 c10 is giving out. Its a v8 305 from an 80 chevy. Would that 98 tahoe starter work in mine? I found this one on rock auto.
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...nid=503&jpid=8

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

100% agree, I love those mini starters.

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I wish I would have known about this when I bought my last starter! I haven't had any problems, but I do have headers and the starter is kind of close.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

So happy with my new starter. Thanks for the heads up. I just took my old one to the parts store and asked to replace it with a mini and they matched one and bam Didnt even realize it was a delco remy till i got home. I paid more though $171. Found same one this moring for only $60 plus shipping. here is mine and a link to a cheaper one but same parts number. This is in my 64 c10 with an 80-83 chevy v8 305.http://www.carid.com/quality-built/r...pn-6449ms.html

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

I had hot start issues on my old blazer to the point I hated to drive it anywhere. I had replaced all the cables with larger cables, put a ford solenoid on the fender, replaced starter, checked timing, and tried a heat shield. Still slow starting when hot.

Finally I put one of the tahoe starters on this spring and it cranks like crazy. Drove it more this summer than I had in the last 10 years, and it always started fast. I should have done this years ago.

The small starters have permanent magnets instead of wound coils on the outside (stator) and a planetary gear reduction, (some places call them pmgr starters) so they generate more torque while pulling less amperage.

Goog luck, Rg

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

I was in the same place with one of my trucks, tried all the same things you did, and nothing helped. Bought one of those little starters as my last try, and no more problems. But, out of many Chevrolet V8s I've had, that was the only one I had trouble with. All the others had big starters on them.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Did you have headers? I'm pretty sure the headers caused all the problems I had.

Rg

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

It has some shorty headers on it, they don't wrap around the starter, so I don't think they would add as much heat as long tubes.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

I want to run some ram horn manifolds and this will definitely help with clearance... I just got a factory replacement from the local parts store. I need to see if they'll exchange it for me...

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Hi....question....I upgraded to the GM mini starter per the above discussion....did anyone have issues with the starter bolt lengths?....on the mini stater I only have a few threads showing...and not enough to catch the threads on the block...

thank you..

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...pseoiiia1n.jpg

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Dan, now that you mention it I remember I bought new bolts at Autozone due to the same issue. They had 2 different length bolts in the "HELP" section.

Good luck, Rg

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

on my 66 GTO which had bad heat soak I used header heat wrap on the starter and it worked like a charm. Yours looks easier though.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Correct bolts for the OE mini starter.
GM part number 12338064 which is 3/8-16 at 4.33 in length.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/a...e-jpg.2683895/

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

So these old engines dont tear up that 98 starter? When I first bought my 86 camaro it had a bad starter gear and flywheel. I had my stepdad pick up the new parts and he got them for an 86 because thats what year the car was. The engine was a early 70s 350. After about a week it had ruined the starter gear again. Got another starter and tryed playing with shims. A few days later needed another flexplate and starter. Put it backtogether with no shims. Lasted about a month and started grinding again. Starter gear was worn out again with some wear on flexplate also. Took the starter back and decided to see if we could figure out what was going on. Thats when we realized the starter was for an 86. Had the parts guy look up a starter for a 70 camaro. The starter looked exactly the same but had a different part number. I bought that starter and bolted it on and its been on there for the last 10 years.

Re: Best starter heat shield
 

Well, this is a late answer but mines been there for 6 years with no problems.

Rg