Technical 305 starter motor confusion

Hi guys ive just bought a new starter motor for my Chevy 305. It's all bolted in but written in the fitting instructions it's saying that the pinion on the starter should go 1/2 to 3/4 across the ring gear or flex plate and not fully across or it could remain engaged. Mine goes right across but how are you supposed to stop this as there is no adjustment for backwards or forwards on the starter, only up and down. Any idea's guys???

Cheers Kev

 

What kind of starter is it? Is it one of those little aftermarket ones, with the aluminum block for a mounting plate?

or is it a proper GM starter?

 

no its not a mini starter it's a full size starter not sure if it's GM though.

 

part number was BYN3838 but that may be the shop part number

 

Photo? HRP

 

its snowing guys

 

Try to start it would be my idea.
If it stays engaged then I would worry about it and figure out how to come up with a fix.
I assume you checked that it had the same number of teeth on the drive as the old starter and compared heads to the old starter to make sure it all looked correct etc?

 

Its a fresh built 305 that came without a starter. Its a 153 tooth flex plate with a straight bolt pattern starter, if the shop guy has issued me with the wrong started but ive tried to start the motor I wont get a refund or replacement.

 

is there a set rule about how far the starter gear goes across the flex plate ??????????????

 

"across the ring gear" never heard of , "into" as in meshing yes, and that is adjusted with shims.

 

please read my first post locknar?

 

There are shim washers on the end of the shaft in the nose cone ,but they are added at the factory for the application .Its only gonna jamb up is if the shims are missing from the bolting face on the block between the started and block.shim packs come with different sizes available at most parts stores.

 

as long as the the gear mesh is correct it doesn't matter on the how far the teeth engage the flywheel ( you actually want the most tooth contact as possible to keep the teeth from shearing off ) as when the motor ( engine ) lights the bendix shaft has a groove in it that pushes the clutch drive back to the starter housing ( this is why the bendix rotates as it goes toward the flywheel plus the solenoid pulls back at the same time . just make sure the flywheel mesh is correct ( shimmed and straight ) and not tight . if you have a starter hanger strap on the block use it .

 

ok cheers Stimpy and Harpo1313

 

Well...I guess you have to be careful...but I'm a bit puzzled just how having the starter potentially grind once, will kill the warranty on a rebuilt engine!
Or do you mean you will be stuck with the incorrect starter?
Either way...thats nuts and your return/warranty policies suck.
Perhaps you could get the engine builder to recommend the starter he wants on the engine. Then HE is responsible for all the resulting carnage!

 

I think he meant the starter warranty

 

I have never seen a SBC starter gear that did not go almost all the way across the ring gear teeth.

I would be worried if it did not. Stripping a ring gear means a motor pull, after a tow truck ride, after being stranded.

 

This "across the gear" language is confusing.

Are you saying that the pinion gear comes out too far?

Those instructions come with pictures?
Do the gears mesh?

 

usually it needs to be shimmed to keep starter pinion from bottoming in flywheel gear,as well as not being too shallow so milling wont happen.step one-bolt in starter.step two,crank engine.if it sounds right,leave it alone.if it doesent,then shims are needed between starter and engine.99% of the time ,they work fine.

 

I stole this from You -tube ( sounds like it needs a little more shimming ) see how far the bendix comes out , it covers the whole gear

 

I was of the view like others that the width of the gear needed to fully engage the flexplate gears. That way it spreads the load evenly on both teeth and engages evenly. Here is the smaller OEM GM starter from my 350 in my 46 Olds. Is yours similar? The 305 in my 35 Chevy uses the larger OEM GM starter.

 

The drive gear should not touch the flywheel until the solenoid pulls it forward. Are companies supplying starters with something holding the drive forward? If so, my guess is that they are worried about the drive not being able to retract far enough to disengage. If that happens and you rev the engine with the drive engaged, it can damage the starter and blow the armature apart.

There is no way to shim the starter farther back. You would need a starter with a different nose cone or a different flexplate to change that distance. We have moved the ring gear on stick shift flywheels. It can be difficult to find the correct starter. Does the engine have a third bolt hole where the starter mounts? It might use a staggered bolt starter. Since you probably can't tell the parts store what make and model the engine is from and parts may be mismatched, your best bet is going to a rebuilder as they will know more about the nose cones for GM starters. We had a problem when we used a truck block that was made with a larger flywheel than we were using and we ended up drilling new mounting holes to move it sideways. That involved filling one hole by screwing in a threaded rod using loctite and drilling a hole next to it. I hope you can find a starter that will work without going through too much trouble.