Starting problems

[Hans-Olof Blom]

Last summer I had starting problems. Bad noise from the starter gear and the ring gear. It turned out that I had a MSD distributor that got stuck at full mechanical advance. I tried to start the engine at about 38 degrees of timing advance. It kicked back and broke a few teeth on the ring gear and damaged the starter gear.

I have switched distributor and activated the 20 degrees start retard in my MSD box. I also switched to a new flywheel (going to fix the old one) and replaced the starter gear.

But, still I have heard some noise from the gears now and then.

Yesterday I was working on some electrical problems and when I was done I tried to start the engine. It was dead and after a few starting attempts the gears started to make more and more noise. The noise got worse so I stopped trying to start. It sounds like the starter is revving up before it engages.

The engine was dead because I had accidently disconnected the power to the MSD box at the ignition switch. The ignition was not on when I tried to start the engine.

The starter is a Powermaster XS Torque Starter. The flywheel is a McLeod aluminum. The engine is a stroked 427 center oiler.

What is the problem??? How do I fix it?

[Tom Cimino]

This may be a shot in the dark, but maybe you damaged the shaft in the starter and the starter gear is binding on the shaft. This would account for the starter "revving up" before engaging. The Powermaster starter has no support for the end of the shaft which would make bending the shaft possible with the conditions you described in your post.

Check out the starters by RobbMc Performance. They have an optional pinion support cone for their starters that is good for big, high comp. engines.

http://www.robbmcperformance.com/pro...t_starter.html

[Bobcat]

X2 on the pinion support for the starter . I had a CVR and Powermaster starter that had no pinion support . The Powermaster wouldn`t mount up correctly ( only had 1/3 flywheel gear engagement ) and I sent it back. The CVR failed and the shaft ended up at a 30 degree angle . What happens is that the pinion gear on the starter tries to climb the flywheel gear teeth . This puts a tremendous sideload on the starter shaft . It also causes the flywheel gear teeth to handle the full load on a reduced portion of the teeth .
I bet if you look closely at the starter and flywheel gear teeth , you will see some odd wear patterns .
Went to the RobbMc starter with pinion support and love it .... also get full gear tooth engagement .... and it`s easier to mount .
These engines put a lot of load on the starters ... especially if you have high compression , large displacement and anything over 18 degrees initial advance on the distributor .
Good luck !
Bob

[Excaliber]

I gave up on those fancy high torque high dollar CANNOT BE REPAIRED pita high tech starters. What a waste of time and money. The starter drives DO go out and cannot be replaced, your $250 fairly new starter is $%^%&*.

I'm not sure why folks use an after market. LOTS of folks, like me, use a $50 starter from NAPA. If it goes out, you gotta a warranty #1 and #2, it's only 50 bucks, so I'm not out much either way.

I run pretty extreme advance on my side oiler, stock starter turns it over fine. Powermaster, been there done that, didn't even get a t-shirt.