starter/flywheel issues

[CUCV85beast]

I recently picked up a 1985 M1009, in pretty good shape only 56k miles. Within a few days of buying it my starter went out on me, it looked to be the original and had the old give it a few good hits to get it going so I went ahead and bought a new one. That new starter went out within a week, figured it was just defective. Replaced it with the warranty and it had almost been a month with no problems until last night... parked it for ten minutes and went to start it up again and my starter was just winding like a banshee but my engine is not firing. Took it to my mechanic and he said the flywheel is what ruined my starter... something to do with either the cogs or the shaft. Anyone else have any problems like this? My mechanic said 4 or 5 hundred bucks to fix says he has to pull the tranny out to get to it... anyone think it would be ridiculous to try and do it myself... tools aren't an issue but i dont want to screw it up if its too complicated. If there's a manual on this site that could help me out, would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction. thanks alot

 

[4bogginchevys]

Not a bad problem to tackle, you need a jack and a buddie would make it a little easier. It's all mechanical...big metal stuff, I prefer jobs like this over little tedious electrical ones. It's not that bad, you just need to see it through, and dont forget to support the back of the motor with some blocking before you slide the trans/transfer back. You dont have to drop it out of the truck, slide it back just far enough to gain access to the bolts in flywheel. I use a few ratchet straps to steady the married unit while it's back for safety. good luck

 

[pigfoot63]

I agree we do a lot of them, we remove the trans bolts and then install a couple of long bolts roll the jack back and remove the flex plate.

 

[ralbelt]

I agree fairly straight forward job slide trans back and remove the flex plate. It was about $90.00 at napa but I have seen posts on SS as low as $60.00 ifyou shop around. I recommend that you also replace the flex plate bolts as they are prone to break I think autozone had OEM bolts, about $20.00.

 

[ralbelt]

The bolts to replace are the ones that hold the torque converter to the flex plate. When you slide the trans back in, the most important thing to remember is to keep the converter engaged into the trans front pump, you can feel the engagement by gently rocking the converter back and forth, there are two fingers that must interlock, the possibility exists of breaking them if you pull the trans into the bellhousing with the bolts if they are not lined up correctly.
I forgot to double check this and had to pull the trans a second time to recheck the fingers.

 

[91W350]

You can damage the pump in the transmission of the slots are not engaged, as they said, it is easy to do. If you converter slides out of the pump, put a little pressure, like two fingers worth and rotate the converter until it drops into the pump, engaging the drive.

Also, somebody else referred to getting some long bolts and that is a super plan. It saves you form trying to align the bolt holes again, trying to stab the converter into the back of the crank and provides a good bit of insurance that the trannsmission and transfer case are not going to roll off the jack. If you use the long bolts, a standard floor jack is all you need.

Make sure the new flex plate has the large counter weight spot welded in. I bought a "6.2" flex plate with no weight. Had I not caught it, I would have been doing the job again. The 6.2 is like the small block 400 and the big block 454, externally balanced. Glen

 

[CUCV85beast]

Thanks alot for all the info guys, i really appreciate the detail. Hard to find people that are so willing to help. However my mechanic said that after changing the starter he found none of the damage that he expected to and just changed it out again for a new one :/ said if it goes out again to come back... I might just go ahead with this project anyway just for peace of mind. thanks once again

 

[CUCV85beast]

My girlfriends father told me it could be a bad starter cable thats burning out my starters, It does look like its in pretty bad shape, all the battery cables look fairly new. Already picked up a 4 gauge cable to replace it with... anyone think i should go with a more heavy duty one? Im not familiar with the 24 volt starter and I cant tell if the existing cable is a little bigger than a 4...looks like the insulation is a little bloated and next to the new one its hard to tell if its the same

 

[4bogginchevys]

I really like 2 guage, and because I went to civy batt trays I used 2 guage welding lead to cross the core support, it's easier for juice to flow in my opinion.