Starter problems on 1968 Skylark..HELP

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Replaced starter (had to give mine as core which I can't get back)and the new starter turns the car over very, very slow and is eating my ring gear. Will a flywheel off of another motor fit the 350 which I might actually need instead of one for the 350 to save my ring gear???? PLEASE HELP, I'M STUMPED

[Guest]

Sounds like they gave you the wrong starter.. I had to replace mine (cracked end to end) and got a acdelco replacement. I was worried it was spinnin too fast as the previous one spun slower.. For flywheels, I'd try asking ppl around if they have any that'll work for ya, or head to parts store (got mine amazingly enough at autozone), they should have a new one for ya. It's when you get '65 and prior that you start having bigger problems at parts places. just my shillings worth...<P>Scott

[NTX5467]

In the earlier times, at least in the world of BowTies, the starter main housing could be either "long" or "regular". The "long" one was due to more windings and a resultant higher torque capacity unit for bigger motors and such. It's been the prefered unit, as a result until the later gear drive starters came online.<P>Also, the aluminum end housing was shaped to clear the particular bell housing of the transmission attached to the engine. There were probably a dozen or so end housings for Chevrolets alone! Now, they've finally configured the end housing to fit everything.<P>The architecture of your end housing is what spaces the starter out from the flywheel plus clears the bell housing area of the transmission correctly. Two end housings can look similar, even with the same bolt hole pattern, and still have different build heights (which determine how the starter drive gear meshes with the flywheel). Typically, at least on later Chevy motors, the different diameter flywheels required different starter end housings, but usually of different bolt patterns (i.e., straight or offset). Similarly, there are starter shims available for these Chevy starters to correctly space the end housing so the starter drive meshes correctly with the flywheel ring gear.<P>According to a Chevy service manual I found a while back, with the starter drive gear "engaged", there should be about .040" clearance between the deepest part of the ring gear and the deepest penetration of the starter drive gear. It might be that you need to space the starter out from the flywheel before you get a new flywheel and have similar issues again. The starter might also turn faster without having to fight the flywheel quite so much.<P>When you go to the auto supply or dealer to get a reman starter, you always have the option of taking the core back later instead of handing it over at the point of first sale. This way, you can take the "new" starter home and swap the end housings before you install it. It might also be a good idea to put a new drive end bushing in (and lube it too) your existing end housing too. End result, you will have a starter with new guts working in conjunction with your drive end housing of known quantity and architecture/clearances. Then, when you're done, take the core back for core credit -- if you don't keep it to be rebuilt by a known good rebuilder later on. <P>In prior times, it was nothing to put new brushes and bushings in the starter, dress the armature, change the solenoid, and put it back on the car. Not too hard to do either! Those parts are still around, but aren't as common as they used to be as the orientation now is to do exchanges instead of repairs. After all, all you're doing is replacing the worn parts and everything else should be good as it was working beforehand. But times have changed . . .<P>I don't know how many starter drive end housing variations there might be for Buicks engines, but suspect there are less than the multitude for earlier Chevrolets. I would trust an AC-Delco reman starter to have the correct end housing more than I would from some other rebuilder/reman facility where they dump everything in a vat and such. Even so, a friend that used to have a large repair shop said he never used the starter end housing on the replacement starter (even the preferred AC-Delco units), he always swapped them out with the existing starter that came on the car--greatly reduced the problems later, which came out of his pocket.<P>I suspect you can find a replacement flywheel from the auto supply sources or transmission shops at a decent price. Just make sure it matches the old one in all respects.<P>I don't know what sort of time frame transpired between the time you purchased the reman starter and your request to retreive your old one, but the retreival should have been a doable deal as I rather doubt they ship the cores out daily or even weekly. The only thing would have been to firmly know which one was yours. In one respect, if you paid the core charge, they should have given you the chance to find the one you thought was yours (provided you knew which one it was), but most don't desire to deal with that. I do know that many of the main auto supplies put tracking stickers on the core boxes so they know what they are and where they came from (and how many might "get lost" somewhere). <P>Many auto supplies and all GM dealers require the core be returned in the box the new part came in or there is no core credit issued as they can't get their money if the part is not boxed.<P>Just some thoughts . . .<BR>NTX5467

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