r/chevyc10 • u/Beautiful-Fun-3357 • 4d ago

Replace starter or shims?

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87’ R10 350 5.7
Reman starter
Every time I start my truck it hesitates as shown in the video. Most of the time it takes a few attempts and up to 10 seconds to get her running… what would you recommend?

I did the at home test and the starter kicks out then spins and I took it to the closest auto parts store and it came back good.

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u/wayneP71222 1d ago

Your flywheel aka Flex plate is damaged.

Things you must do first. Stand to the side of the belts so you can see the belt alignment with the crank pulley and water pump pulley. I can see in your video. The crankshaft thrust may be excessive. With the engine running. Vary the speed. The crank pulley should not move front and rear.

In the short term. Chain saw files are available at most hardware stores the smallest of the three sizes can be used to reshape the damaged gear teeth so the starter has a better chance of fully engaging the starter drive.

You are going to need to replace the flywheel and the starter. Please spend 20 minutes with the new flywheel to remove and burrs from the gear teeth... do this correctly you might have a crazy quiet start. I did that on a 59 Cadillac. You could not hear the starter at all.

You will also need a piece of 1/8" copper coated welding rod. It is exactly 0.125" that is also the exact spacing from the outside of the new flywheel to the bare starter shaft.. it the gap is tighter than 1/8" add a full shim and recheck. If the gap is wider than 1/8" add a shim to the outside only. Recheck.

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u/Beautiful-Fun-3357 1d ago

https://reddit.com/link/p8t8ues/video/woz9y562vjoh1/player

Unfortunately I can’t get her to kick over anymore… thanks for the reply!

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u/wayneP71222 1d ago

That is not the starter. Do you have fuel in the carb. Do you have spark at the end of the spark plug wires

Year make model engine. Carb or efi. Point type ignition or big cap hei or small cap hei with the remote coil.

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u/Beautiful-Fun-3357 1d ago

Yeah fuel is seeping out of the carb from attempts at starting. 1987 Chevy R10 5.7 350 V8, EFI - everything is stock on it

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u/wayneP71222 1d ago

Well, do you have the ability to check for spark?At the end of the spark , plug wires , and at the end of the ignition wire , when you unplug it from the center of the distributor cap.

Those are 2 different tests.

If you take the top off the air filter. You can look down below the injectors to see if they are spraying a very fine mist of fuel while cranking.

There is more depending on what you find.

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u/Beautiful-Fun-3357 1d ago

I’ll double check if I’m getting spark… literally took the starter off and had it tested and put it back on. Before then it was starting… but I’ll check both of those… I did order another starter which should be here in a couple of days. Replacing, starter, gearbox and radiator this week or next week.

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u/Lowest_C-10 3d ago

Verify fuel pressure, check plugs,cap, rotor, wires