Hoping for a little help :)
The car is a 66 Deville with a freshly built 429 installed. The flywheel was replaced with a new one from Fatsco due to worn teeth on the original. They weren't missing just had a taper on the side that engages the starter drive gear. The starter was also replaced with a parts store unit at the same time.
When starting the motor it sounds abnormally noisy like a mis-shimmed Chevrolet starter.
I have tried shimming it and have even run gear marking compound on the teeth and do not really see anything abnormal. Am I missing something here or chasing my tail?? :P
Thanks in advance
Tim
The first thing that comes to my mind is whether
the parts store gave you the correct unit for your car.
And secondly, what was the quality of the rebuilt unit?
Some rebuilt starters (and other replaceable stuff like
water pumps. etc) are real garbage today. Sometimes
you have to try several units to get a "good" one.
Sad but true.
Mike
I can't offer much help, but I can sympathize.
When I first got my '67 Eldorado, the starter sounded exactly the way you describe yours. Alas, I didn't work on it myself: It was the first of a very long line of repairs performed by a third party. When I asked what they had done about the starter, the shop said that the nasty sound had been due to the fact that the original had been gunked up with crud. Once they opened it up, cleaned it out, greased it, and popped it back in, it worked fine. Not a terribly satisfactory answer.
As Mike said, you have to get lucky (anymore) with "rebuilt" parts. It took me three tries to get a suitable power-steering pump last year.
Good luck!
I had a similar problem with a noisy starter, and it turned out to be a poorly-made Flex Plate.
It was made in Mexico, and was so poorly built that the teeth weren't engaging properly, and they destroyed the Starter Bendix.
I changed the Flex Plate in the first place because it was showing wear, and thought that I would save time, and money for the client, but it was a total disaster.
Here is the link to the original story, and what I had to do to fix it..
http://forums.cadillaclasalleclub.org/index.php?topic=139212.msg323079#msg323079
Bruce. >:D
Hello TJP,
When you used the marking compound, did you look at the pattern on the pinion gear in the starter? If the pattern does not indicate full engagement of the gear in the starter, this might be an issue. You can check the starter on the bench for correct pinion gear clearance. See here for my starter rebuild story.
http://forums.cadillaclasalleclub.org/index.php?topic=133691.60
Scroll to reply 62.
As Mike mentioned, there may be an issue with the parts store unit. A good replacement starter for a 429 should be one with a longer armature than many that are currently supplied as replacements.
In the photo below, a longer armature starter can be identified by the long copper piece that connects the terminal on the bottom front face of the solenoid to the contact sticking up from the starter housing. If, on your starter, the contact sticking up from the starter housing is directly connected to the solenoid, then you don't have the correct replacement starter. Will the one you have work? Yes, but it won't be as durable as the long armature type depending on how often you drive the car.
When replacing any parts on an old car, it is important to clean and inspect the old parts, especially with respect to how the parts work together. Measurements of the old parts should be taken so that size and clearances of new parts can be determined, and whether the new parts will work with the old parts. As others have mentioned, it cannot be taken for granted that new replacement parts are exactly dimensionally correct.
If the replacement flexplate and replacement starter are both just slightly different dimensionally, the compound error may be the cause of your noisy starter. Working on the starter will be easier than swapping in another flexplate.
Respectfully submitted,
Christopher Winter
While you are giving that replacement starter the critical eyeball, be sure it has the rear bracket, or get, or make one. That is what that extended stud is for at the back side of the starter motor. A cracked starter case is often the result of leaving that support bracket off and that support bracket gets left off often. Item #2 in the pic. below. They come in different shapes and sizes depending on the application but an "L" bracket or twisted bracket is easy enough to make --- doesn't have to be fancy, just has to be there.
Edit: Don't know what car or installation the pic. represents --- just a visual to show the bracket.
Thanks to all that have replied. I will report back on my findings once I have a chance to do some investigating ;) I have a few other issues that have cropped up and they may take precedence. :(
I don't want to change the focus of this post so please see my next 2 postings on those issues :(
Tim
Anybody looking for a nice 66 convert ::: ;D
OK after much hair pulling, 3 different starter drives, shimming etc. the original flywheel was reinstalled. Immediately quieter with the same starter drive. The supplier acknowledged the issue is supposed to refund the purchase price. Be nice if they paid for the lost labor as well ::)
I am hopeful that this may prevent another from the nightmare i went through. ;)
Hello Tim,
Thanks for posting the resolution.
Christopher Winter