hi all.this is actually a question about the chevy drivetrain in my jeep .
i go through a starter about ever 3-6 months on my jeep.(502 w t-400 trans )it seems the teeth on the starter get destroyed.the flexplate is fairly new about 1.5 yrs ,the same time i put this drivetrain in.when i look underneeth i can see that the starter teeth can only phsyically go 1/2 way into the ring teeth on the flexplate.i talked to a local rebuilder fri and he said this is normal.shouldnt the teeth engage all the way to the back of the teeth on the ringear?this is starting to take a toll on the flexplate and when it goes ther is no warning.im sure if i could get full engagement it would be ok.could i possibly get a starter that would engage deeper?
i have a giant allison torque converter in the 400 but i think the flexplate is still in the stock location.
thanks

This may be a dumb question, did you leave a pilot bearing in the back of the crank?
I have seen this type of problem before. most often its something stupid.
pull the bolts out of the torque converter and see if mounting holes are still touching the flexplate. if there is about a 1/4" gap and all the bolts have to "reach" to get at the converter, then you may have a problem.
I have seen some snouts on the converter not fit. some have washers welded to them.
if your dishing out the flexplate ,thats whats eatting starter drives.

If the starter isnt shimmed right it might be biting too deeply into the flywheel and causing the parts to wear out. Or mine today I replaced it because the solenoid wasnt kicking enough all the time and it would engage but not all the way so it ruined the teeth on my starter. Maybe exhaust heat (headers maybe) is causing the solenoid to fry. Good luck

thanks guys i think yettiatcpg has a great point about unbolting the 2 to see if there is a gap.i had the tranny rebuilt last yr and the would only guarantee it if i put an allison converter in.i did not see myself if there was a gap before bolting the 2 together.
thanks for all the info!

if there was a crank spacer still in the block ,how thick would it be?

sorry to jack the thread, but what is necesary to get that allison tc in the 400?

If the pilot bearing is in it can be sticking out 1/4" or so. if its the snout then it could be anything??????

i know nothing of big blocks but a small blocks pilot bearing is recessed inside the rear of the crank..this happened to me and i tried all kinds of starters.. get a good casting, and have it rebuilt, or get one from gm, or the good one from napa. i found that the dimensions from tooth to mating surface and ammount of shims varies as much as 1/2", even with the same brands. i tried the hilo-oriely new brand, cardone, valucraft, autozones duralast, and finally got a good one from gm. i ate up countless flexplates. and thats a bitch to change.. spend the cash and save the headache.. also i have an iroc that had the heat soak problem, so i got a genuine gm starter for it and that prob was gone.. also nobody pays attention to the bolts. are they knurled starter bolts? if not the starter can move and it naturally moves away, so it would get crooked and only engage partially. get some new bolts if they are worn at all. they should fit tight.. also do what yetti??? said :smokin:

its true that starters push away when you are cranking. some require a third mounting point. its on the back end and would help a ton if its not there. its just a steel tab the mounts on the bolt at the rear of the starter,and then bolts to the side of the block.
I saw lots of these when I did motor home chassies. the darn things would cook starters like barb'que.

they are avalable at the dealer.

its true that starters push away when you are cranking. some require a third mounting point. its on the back end and would help a ton if its not there. its just a steel tab the mounts on the bolt at the rear of the starter,and then bolts to the side of the block.
I saw lots of these when I did motor home chassies. the darn things would cook starters like barb'que.

they are avalable at the dealer.

very true.. good point. my camaro had one, but it doesnt anymore.. :D


get it fixed and tell us what worked. :smokin:

Most Tranny shops can order a "TC-200" torque converter for the T400 which a stock earlier Allison Torque Converter (No lockup Clutch like current ones) though it may or may not still have all 6 mounting lugs ( sometimes they cut off 3 on the rebuild).

These are great for Motor Home use and off-road if you do't need to high of stall. They lockup at about 2000. They do tend to be hard on your Crank Thrust Bearing if you rev much. They are very good for engine braking.

Note: These Allison Converters put a lot of thrust on the flexplate which will cause it to nick the starter gear if the starter is too close to the flexplate.

had the same problem on my sb400 turned out to be like someone said above there is a great variation in the machining of starter nose cones. I put in a new flywheel and starter and now the teeth engage all the way and I haven't had anymore problems. whoever said about geting a gm starter is probably right you would have better luck geting a good casting from there. also you might want to look into geting a starter from a newer truck like a 96 with a 5.7 vortec they use a high torque ministarter that works great for performance motors I have one on my drag car