Thought I fixed that crazy starter!

Maintenance/Repairs
1

I just put a new starter motor into my 1990 Buick LeSabre (the old one was definitely bad). It starts up great now every time (whew!) BUT it squeals/chatters for about 3-4 seconds every time it starts. Someone mentioned it may be missing a shim, but I didn’t see any come off with the old one. Any thoughts? What in the world is causing the squealing??

2

I went through the same thing with a V8 Caprice; the rebuilt starter did not mesh well enough with the flywheel. In my case a new flywheel and starter were needed; the garage compensated me partly for the extra cost. Most starters need one or more shims to make the gears mesh correctly.

My advice is to take it back to a good shop before you wreck the flywheel. A genuine GM starter would probably mesh better.

3

Here are the instruction on starter replacement, and shimming, you need: http://www.autozone.com/autozone/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideContent.jsp?fromSearchPage=true&pageId=0900c152800b11fd&partName=Starter&partId=0900c152800b11fd

4

Thanks for the guide…very helpful…looks like its off to the dealership to find some shims. My symptoms seem to indicate I need at least one set. I’ll keep you posted.

5

So I put two shims in…scraped before the car even started (from what I read, that means I went too far) So I put in only one shim…it still squeals after it starts for about 1 second…better than no shim, but still not right. Any ideas now? Must be somewhere between 1 and 2 shims. Is there anything else to adjust? Thanks!