1996 chevt starter problem

[ortonville]

i have a 96 chevy 4x4.the started would not engage so i put on a new starter and does the same thing it wont engage the fly whell is ok. and i put in a new battery.thinking i was not getting a full 12 volts to it.it spins but does not come all the way out to engage. any ideas

[Jeremy airjer W]

does it make a grinding noise or just a humming noise. If it grinds than I would guess that you may need to shim it or its defective. Adding shims will move the gear further away from the flywheel which will allow it mess easier. this was real common an the older gm's. Most of the time they would make a high pitched squeal and a 1/32 or 1/16 inch shim would resolve it.

If you hear a hum than I would speculate that the starter is possible defective. Or maybe your not getting enough power to the starter.

With a volt meter place the red lead on the positive battery bolt. Confirm the presence of battery voltage by touching the black lead to the negative side of the battery. Then leave the red lead on the battery and place to black lead on the positive connection at the starter. Have some body crank it over. The voltmeter should read close to 0 (zero). If it reads more than a couple of volts than you have high resistance in the positive cable.

If this is the case than check the positive cable near the battery. I think these have two cables with a single bolt securing it to the positive side terminal. Check for corrosion in between the two cables and or between the cable end and the battery.

Let us know what you find out!!

P.S. Its been a bad week for starters at the shop. I had to put two in a Volvo, the solenoid plunger was incorrectly set and blew a hole through the aluminum casting. I had to put two in a grand am. The first one would intermittently grind on the flywheel. Just a couple of weeks ago I had to put two in a four runner (yeah yeah even a Toyota with over 250k miles will occasionally need a starter ) the first one made a horrendous high pitched squeal. Under closer inspection I noticed the starter gear was badly worn and mishapped on the end.

[Dan Thiem]

Just wondering...maybe a stupid question, but are you getting the correct starter? I believe the 5.7's from that time era had two design starters. One was a smaller more expensive gear reduction type.

[Jeremy airjer W]

The parts guy makes a good point!

Did the starter you put in look exactly like the one you took out?

[ortonville]

ya it was the same part.it took the starter off and the nose cone was broke. so that is why it wouldnt engage.so i got to looking closer and about 2/3 of the ring grear is ground away. so it got it into the garage and now have the ring gear pulled off and had to order a new one. the only bad thing of living in a small town can never go and buy anything it seems they all was have to order the stuff you need.so much for taking the week off and doing nothing but fishing with no truck to pull the boat