starter problem on my kids 97 silverado

Joses · May 3, 2016

Hello all - this is my 1st post and I just joined the forum. This looks like a real good site to join - because me and my 16 year old son have several projects with GM trucks. I hope you guys can help guide us when we have issues. So, Jared turned 16 and saved his money to buy a truck, so we looked and found a 97 Silverado ext cab 1500 4 wheel drive. pretty clean and not a ton of rust. Runs good but the starter sounded bad, and the guy said he had some problems with the starter- so I thought no problem because my brother is a mechanic and has a shop. We got the truck and took it home only to find that the outside threaded hole that mounts the starter is partially cracked off and part of the section of threads is missing - so I ran a tap through the hole and tried a longer bolt and it seemed to hold ok (at least for now). The issue is the guy must have started the truck a lot with the starter misaligned because the flex plate teeth are worn. So now I have to split the tranny/engine and put in a flex plate. Well- we can get that taken care of but my question is what do I do about the starter mounting hole that is messed up? How do I align the starter and get it to hold so I don;t mess up the new flex plate. There isn't room to put a nut on the top of the through hole so I am limited to what I can do. I really don;t think the threads will hold up on the messed up hole because of all the torque on a starter. Any ideas out there? He was upset last night when we found the problem- but I told him we could get it going - it will just take a little time.

Any advice will help.

thanks

Joe

00Silverado4x4 · May 3, 2016

I personally can't picture the problem. Could you by chance post a pic?

Joses · May 3, 2016

I will see if I can find a picture or take one once I am under the truck again. Basically it would be the outer bolt - closest to the bellhousing that holds the starter in place. The engine block where the bolt threads in and holds the starter in place is cracked. Let me see if I can add a picture.

thanks.......

Joe

Joses · May 3, 2016

I will try to add a picture of what I am talking about - not sure if this will work. Basically I am showing the area that is cracked where it bolts to the engine block. What do you guys think as far as options ?

Thanks again...

Joe

1997 chev starter location.bmp