Starter housing shot

Alarus

New Member

Apr 29, 2005

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Az

Dec 9, 2005

#1

• Dec 9, 2005

• #1

Last night i went to fire up my 73 and it turned the engine over a cupple times and then quit, the starter still spun but it made no contact with the flex-plate, when driving, one of the bolts fell out (didnt know this) and last night i broke the starter off the other bolt...the bolt is still intact, but the bolt hole on the starter is toast, it just snaped and the starter was pushed about 3 in. away from the bell housing...question is, what kinda of starter should i look at getting? mini, reg, or something else(if there is anything else) (will NOT get a starter from auto-zone) I do not have hedders, tho i am planing on getting some in the future.

 

SuperDave

Early-Model Mentor

Founding Member

May 3, 2000

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Tacoma, WA USA

Dec 9, 2005

#2

• Dec 9, 2005

• #2

Do some detective work

Remove the starter assembly and examine the flex-plate for damaged/missing teeth on the torque converter ring gear. NO replacement starter will compensate for a damaged ring gear. Manually roll the engine over 360 degreesto do this.

Report the results.

 

Alarus

New Member

Apr 29, 2005

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Az

Dec 9, 2005

#3

• Dec 9, 2005

• #3

i checked the teeth that were in the area and they all seem fine, if i can get a friends help ill have them turn it wile i look, but i think there fine, just the starter poped off. what im asking is what kind of starter should i get, i know to check the teeth, my 95 s-10's ring gear was shot, so i know what can happen...

 

Max Power

Active Member

Jul 31, 2003

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St Paul

Dec 10, 2005

#4

• Dec 10, 2005

• #4

Your car is mostly stock, so you will see little benefit from buying a pricey aftermarket or mini starter. Just get a quality rebuilt starter.

 

2nd Mustang

Founding Member

Feb 24, 2002

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46

Southern California

Dec 10, 2005

#5

• Dec 10, 2005

• #5

Alarus said:

...when driving, one of the bolts fell out (didnt know this) and last night i broke the starter off the other bolt.

Click to expand...

I had my clutch changed last week and found a similar situation. When the shop dropped the starter, they said the top bolt on the starter was missing??????????

 

65ShelbyClone

Founding Member

Sep 9, 2000

4,675

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119

Antelope Valley, SoCal

Dec 10, 2005

#6

• Dec 10, 2005

• #6

Alarus said:

will NOT get a starter from auto-zone)

Click to expand...

Why not? Just make sure you get the right one....

 

SuperDave

Early-Model Mentor

Founding Member

May 3, 2000

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Tacoma, WA USA

Dec 10, 2005

#7

• Dec 10, 2005

• #7

Ring gear teeth

I can't imagine a starter "falling out" without having done ring gear damage. It the starter operated while misaligned the bendix and the ring gear didn't mesh properly. Replacing a ring gear is NOT a pleasant task but to ignore problems is to ask for premature failure.

You can rotate the crankshaft to examine the ring gear by either turning the damper bolt or tension the fan belt and turn the fan. The gear MUST be good all the way around.

 

ashford

Member

Dec 19, 2003

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fargo ND

Dec 10, 2005

#8

• Dec 10, 2005

• #8

yeah the autozone starters are junk and spendy. bought a "new" starter there once, almosty every time when cold i got a click no turn. i traded it off for another and it worked fine till the 90 plus degree days. when it was good and hot it would barely turn the engine over. took it back got my 80 bucks back went to napa bought their rebuilt starter for $35 and it worked good every time. i was really suprised by napa on this, most of their stuff is mid grade to junk. turns out theri starters and alternators are good stuff. bought many starters from them since then without problem.

 

SuperDave

Early-Model Mentor

Founding Member

May 3, 2000

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Tacoma, WA USA

Dec 10, 2005

#9

• Dec 10, 2005

• #9

If I may interject

Starter problems can SOMETIMES be traced to a poor ground or battery cables with too much resistance. The cables degrade internally and do not provide the amperage to spin the starter/engine. Cables may LOOK OK but check their resistance with an ohmmeter. STRANGE that the "resident experts"here didn't mention this.

Check the "Timeless Wisdom's" below.

 

Alarus

New Member

Apr 29, 2005

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Az

Dec 11, 2005

#10

• Dec 11, 2005

• #10

went through about 5 starters form autozone, (not in this car) we replaced the cables with a starter and about a month later it quit working...every time it would work for about a month and just quit...so i wont get starters from them, ill go to checkers or napa before auto-zone, what im mainly asking is im planning on getting headers here prety soon, ive heard about starters toasting becuse of them, thats why i ask if i should get a mini or something, or is there a heat wrap that i can put over it or what should i do?