hot starting

[Clarkson]

Hi all,

Some may remember a few months ago my engine would not turn over when hot and when left to cool down it was ok. Well I have fixed it! Last Sunday I removed the starter motor and to my horror I found that the starter was cracked in three places at the nose.Probably due to the lack of shimming.Has anyone else found this?I orderd a new mini high torque starter from the helpful guys at Summit racing and recieved it today.Now it starts anytime at super speed and sounds good too!

David

[graham]

Yeah I had this today, Fine when cold, but hot starting = starter soleniod kickback, I guess its harder to turn the engine over when hot (MAX COMPRESSION) Booster battery (like a jumpstart) cranked her over. Maybe my battery at 2years on and off use is not so good. I do have full voltage but 670 CCA, maybe I need more. Also someone before has mentioned of extra thick wiring to the starter solenoid???? My starter is new and I checked carefully and added shims.

Graham

[Clarkson]

Graham,

I'm not been funny but the stock starters are crap! 10 years I have had this problem and always changing stock starters with no change at all. Saying that, I think it was not shimed probably.Also try a heat sheild.
David.

[Miket]

David

The GM starter motors are fine if shimmed correctly.

As stated by Tek Tip Bit in the Real Steel catalogue, mounting pad tolerances and hole locations vary from block to block, this moves the starter drive gear away from the flywheel, varying distances.

The aluminium nose housing dimensions vary, this also moves the starter drive gear away from the flywheel varying distances.

Regardless of whether the old starter had shims or not, YOU MUST INSPECT THE CLEARANCE of this new unit as it may or may not require shimming.

As I found from experience the only way to shim the starter correctly is with the bell-housing and gearbox removed.

As some one else mentioned, even though mine is shimmed correctly, I had problems when hot, I changed the solenoid cable to 16amp and it has never let me down since, touch wood.

[mikey]

The hot start problem is very unlikely to be the cracks in the nose, its more than lilely the heat being absobed in the solenoid and wire which increasws the tresistance massively. G.M starter motors need the full 12 volts to work properly.

The mini start will probably cure if your solenoid is away from the headers. However you can save yourself around £170 plus by fitting a remote starter solenoid to the existing starter motor. Cost is around £7.50 from Real steel and it solves the problem totally.

If you refer to my previos post, I had this problem to the extent where after every long trip I had to wait an hour before I could get the starter to operate due to the solenoid not kicking in.

The mini stater provides more umph but you really dont need it unless you are running an incredibly high compression.

Chevy starters do need shimming and it is critical although it is a pain in the arse to do.

If anybody is experiencing hot start problems unless you are loaded I would reccomend the remote solenoid as it is potentially a better fix as it isolates the problem area from the heat source by whatever distance you want.
Mike.

[Clarkson]

Mike,

The starter motor was cracked at the nose because it was not shimed probably, so I had to buy a new one.I bought it from Summit Racing and cost me £130 to my front door.I have been out in the car all day with no problems at all.I guess that the original starter was meshing with the flywheel to tight when hot.I still can't understand why your remote solenoid cured your problem when your still using the original starter solenoid?

David. :} :} :} :}

[mikey]

£130 is a really good price and obviously with a cracked nose it was the way to go. I would have done exactly the same.

My reply was for those whose starter is O.K. but have the problem.

I dont use the solenoid on the Chevy, I use a remote Ford unit which cost £7.50 which is connected to the Chevy starter making the original one redundant.

This makes sure you get a full 12 volt charge even when hot as the solenoid is located well away from the headers etc.

American cobra club members advised me of the solution and steered me to the web page below which explains it better than I can.

It really does work. Steaming hot today and I gave the motor a long hard drive. Stopped at the shop and the starter was still full of life.

Take a read of the following link page.

www.oldengine.org/unfaq/solenoid.htm

regards.
Mike

[graham]

But Having shimmed mine at cold (and its only a paperclip clearance) would the heat build up cause the flywheel ring gear etc to expand to the extent that tight meshing occurs and hard to start.

I have a thick solenoid wire but I may double up on it and test then try the remote solenoid job.

Graham

[graham]

Also when I added a second battery the amps was boosted everywhere that helped. Sorry battery was a Halford 620 CCA. still not sure if enough??

Graham

[mikey]

You should be O.K. shimming when hot or cold.

Noy sure the solenoid wire as you mean will solve the problem. I think its got something to do with the windings, but I am not sure. The remote solenoid is a dead easy job honest.
Mike