Father needs help.. 1999 Starter / Flywheel issue

[jkruger2007]

Hello. I've attached a video link below of the issue but a quick explanation as well.. My dad has replaced the flywheel and tried a few different starters but keeps having this same issue. His truck is a 99 Chevy 2500 with the 5.7. Seems like the starter is turning but hitting the flywheel instead of connecting with the teeth. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

 

[O_J_Simpson]

Shimmed?

[jkruger2007]

Yeah he says he did that from the get go..

[thx1138v2]

I recently had this problem and it drove me crazy for a while. It would work fine for a while and then fail to engage. If it didn't work the first time, after trying it three to seven or eight times it would usually work. I tried shimming also and it didn't help.

 

In the end what it boiled down to was a bad starter that was brand new. It was a Chinese replacement from Autozone. I tried 3 starter motors but the last 2 were just replacements for the original purchase.

 

The problem was that there was too much play in the throw arm that the solenoid actuates to get the pinion to engage with the ring gear. I ended up checking that play with the solenoid engaged and the starter out of the truck and compared it to a spare one friend had that was AC Delco. There was about 1/8" difference in the play while the pinion was extended. I didn't think it was that bad but when I put the friend's spare into the truck it worked fine and has been working fine for about 6 months.

 

The friend's starter had 1/16" to 3/32" play and the Chinese one had an 1/8" more play than that. I think what happens is the pinion extends to engage and bounces off the ring gear and the play allows it to not engage. If you look closely at the wear on the ring gear you'll see it only engages about an 1/8" to 3/16" to begin with so that 1/8" extra play is way too much.

 

So if the starter was replaced recently that could be the problem.