_New Guy question

p_matt_s · April 3, 2005

I have a 98 1/2 ton Sierra with a 350 that I had to replace the starter on today. Can somebody tell me if I need to be concerned with shimming it? There weren't any shims on the old one, and none came with the reman one I bought to replace it. Thanks!

ChadroG · April 3, 2005

Does it sound the way it use to when starting it? If so I wouldnt worry about it but if it has a scraping sound when it's starting or the starters seems to not be turning freeley then you need to shim one way or the other.

Friz · April 3, 2005

Chevy motors do not need starter shims. Period. End of discussion. I don't care what anyone else tells you.

ChadroG · April 3, 2005

Then your the person that will refund me the money for a flywheel on an 88 k1500 that had to be replaced because a starter was shimmed on it right and the flywheel was destroyed?

Friz · April 4, 2005

Then your the person that will refund me the money for a flywheel on an 88 k1500 that had to be replaced because a starter was shimmed on it right and the flywheel was destroyed?

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If your starter was shimmed, I'm not surprised that your flywheel was destroyed. The alignment was not correct.

You can also destroy a flywheel/flexplate by not using correct starter bolts. Ordinary bolts have a thinner shank and even though the bolts will thread into the block, the starter will move around and tear up teeth.

GM-Tech · April 4, 2005

Chevy motors do not need starter shims. Period. End of discussion. I don't care what anyone else tells you.

Uhhh, says who? Not most newer vehicles, but I've shimmed many a starter in my day. And these had shims, from the factory, to begin with, so it wasn't something I just added because I felt like it.

ChadroG · April 4, 2005

Thanks for the back up man, your right, mine was shimmed from the factory and whe i replaced the old one i shimmed it the way the first one was and had washed the motor that day, the dist. cap was wet and when i tryed to start it it back fired kinda and when it did that with an improperly shimmed starter the backwards rotating flywheel vs. the forward turning starter.... well the flywheel lost. fixed it new fly wheel sold the truck to my dad and now have a 99 gmc with 5.3 150,000 miles on her now and still going strong. later guys. hey everybody check out my tread in classic trucks about my panel truck and give me some input thanks.

snoman · April 4, 2005

Chevy motors do not need starter shims. Period. End of discussion. I don't care what anyone else tells you.

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Guess again, they were routine from the factory once upon a time for many years and were sometimes used to fix starters binding in flywheel teeth. The shims were small but effective in some applications but are no longer used by default from factory that I am aware of any more but there are still some older vehicals out there that use them still even today.

Friz · April 4, 2005

Chevy motors do not need starter shims. Period. End of discussion. I don't care what anyone else tells you.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Guess again, they were routine from the factory once upon a time for many years and were sometimes used to fix starters binding in flywheel teeth. The shims were small but effective in some applications but are no longer used by default from factory that I am aware of any more but there are still some older vehicals out there that use them still even today.

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Okay - I stand corrected. GM-Tech obviously knows what he's talking about and I have no reason to doubt snoman. Here's my stance on why I say no shims.

1) I have been a mechanic for about 25-30 years. No schooling, just learning and working on my own and others stuff.

2) I have no idea how many starters I have changed, but I'll guess it's in the hundreds on all different brands of cars.

3) I have built 30-40 small block Chevy motors for street and circle track applications. They have been all years from stock to highly modified. I've also built other GM, Ford, Dodge, Jeep, Datsun, motorcycles, etc.

I have shimmed starters on Buicks and Pontiacs, and on a Ford 400M, but never in all of my builds or maintenance have I shimmed a small-block Chevy. Every motor I build or work on has been fired up initially by me, either on a stand or in the vehicle.

snoman · April 6, 2005

Chevy motors do not need starter shims. Period. End of discussion. I don't care what anyone else tells you.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Guess again, they were routine from the factory once upon a time for many years and were sometimes used to fix starters binding in flywheel teeth. The shims were small but effective in some applications but are no longer used by default from factory that I am aware of any more but there are still some older vehicals out there that use them still even today.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Okay - I stand corrected. GM-Tech obviously knows what he's talking about and I have no reason to doubt snoman. Here's my stance on why I say no shims.

1) I have been a mechanic for about 25-30 years. No schooling, just learning and working on my own and others stuff.

2) I have no idea how many starters I have changed, but I'll guess it's in the hundreds on all different brands of cars.

3) I have built 30-40 small block Chevy motors for street and circle track applications. They have been all years from stock to highly modified. I've also built other GM, Ford, Dodge, Jeep, Datsun, motorcycles, etc.

I have shimmed starters on Buicks and Pontiacs, and on a Ford 400M, but never in all of my builds or maintenance have I shimmed a small-block Chevy. Every motor I build or work on has been fired up initially by me, either on a stand or in the vehicle.

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My cousin had a 69 Impla 327 that was shimed from factory and my 69 impala ss 396 was shimed too to work correctly. I also rember working on several cars and P/U that were shimed to in varing amounts. As I recall there was a service bulliten on them years ago about starters binding in the flywheel after startup (bendix not wanting to retrack) and the fix was shims. As I also recall it was mainly a problem with cars with automatics not sticks but I am not 100% sure on that aspect.

etex211 · April 15, 2005

I may be wrong, but I think that some of the starter rebuilders mill the starter nose so that a shim would have to be used. This is one reason of many that I hate rebuilt starters.

There is a check that can be done to see if a starter needs a shim or not. Measure the distance between the bendix shaft and the flywheel starter ring and it should be an eighth inch, if I remember correctly.

99-2door · April 22, 2005

Some of them may come with shims I can't say for sure all of them don't, but I have never seen any on a 96-up Vortec engine.

My $.02

dhansell22 · January 31, 2009

Not to bring up old crap, but my starter on my 05 1500 has started hanging up on the flywheel. I just pulled it and the teeth are rounded over and the flywheel feels pretty ragged on the edges. Could this be a case of needing shims? Why else would the starter not be disengaging quick enough? The solenoid was replaced a year ago.

thewaterboy · February 5, 2009

Ouch!! sounds like the starter gear tolerance is too tight and is just mashin the teeth off your flywheel...I would put a small shim in to give it some breathing room. Its worth a try.. I would hate to have to put a new flywheel in that would really suck!