Okay… we have a 1974 Silverado with a 350.In the past year we have blown 8 starters.Flywheel appears fine, what else could be blowing the cylinoid in starter?Also, we have added headers…maybe heat???
maybe heat Yes maybe heat. That would be my guess. Do you know what exactly is failing? Are teeth chipped? Does the flywheel or solenoid gear show an abnormal wear pattern?
Some starters have a heat shield (or, should have). You can check with the Chevy dealer parts department to see if there is a starter heat shield. You can get the shield (if used) from a salvage yard. The dealer may have one, also (if used).
There are no chipped teeth and is no abnormal wear pattern. This last starter blew after just starts.
Could alternator be a possible source of problem being the voltage regulator is built in the alternator?thanks
How do the starters fail? Does the starter just refuse to crank the engine i.e. nothing happens? Does the starter drag i.e. slow cranking with high current draw? Does the starting problem occur after the engine has been driven a while? Is the solenoid not pulling in the pinion and closing the contactor switch?
Unless the parts store is just replacing these starters under warrantee, someone should be doing a postmortem on them to find out why they failed. Is the armature overheating? Are the bushings worn out? Is the armature rubbing against the poles? What is the current draw with a new starter cold and hot?
Get back to us with more information.
Yes the heat from the headers could be frying the starter solenoids. That would be my guess. Start thinking about a heat shield.
Heat from the headers could possibly be causing the starters to fail, but I had a similar truck for a long time, the whole time running long tube headers, and never had to replace a starter. Maybe your headers run closer to the starter? If all tuning checks out fine, ie: not running too lean or rich, a heat shield would be a necessity. Since it’s apparently frying starters, you may also want to try header wrap to reduce underhood temps. That would run nearly $100 but may be worth it to prevent further problems.