Starter Issues

[A30sailor]

Hi Don! Scott Maury Alberg 30 West River Md. My at4 is purring like a kitten. I've just installed a fresh water cooling kit. My issue is I finally decided to get the starter overhauled. It was spurradic and needed the hammer on the soilinoid from time to time. Once started, it has never sounded better. My friend convinced me to take the starter into Annapolis and have it rebuilt by the local guy MAMMOCK Starter Co. Well $200.00 later, I've installed it and when it cranks, It is strong. The problem is it dosent allways engage. I have the same issue, but now I have to slightly crank the engine by hand. Then it will start. The rebuilt starter has a new bendex and solinoid installed, I didn't see any spec of my old paint on any parts, which I found odd. The mounting holes seem oversized. I did try to shift the starter mounting, but it has the same issue. Every turn of the key kicks the soilinoid but the gear dosen't engage. The wire nuts are not american thread? The rebuider says to take the flywheel cover off and evaluate the gear. What are your thoughts? NAPA wanted $75 for a re-conditioned unit? I do see the rubber gasket on my rebuilt starter so I would assume it was a marinized rebuild. I now wish I had just ordered one from you. Your thoughts are always encourged. Thanks Scott

[Don Moyer]

Scott,

I'm afraid that you are probably caught up in a trap that I never wrote much about, which is starter compatibility. We did considerable research quite a few years ago into the compatibility of various Delco starters on late model engines, and the bottom line summary is as follows.

The Delco part number used on original late model starters is 1107-678. These numbers are stamped into the main motor housing of the starter and are usually very easy to find unless the starter has suffered from deep rusting. In our experience, only starters with this Delco number will work on all late model Atomic 4 engines. While there are many Delco starters which look very similar to the originals, many of them will not work on late model engines with cast iron flywheel covers, due to slight differences in the cast iron nose cones of the starters.

In the mid to late 1970's, Delco numbers 1107-320 and 1108-422 began showing up on engines with sheet metal flywheel covers. However, while the original starters will still work on these latest engines, the starters on the latest engines will not work reliably on late model engines with cast iron flywheel covers.

Unfortunately, Delco does not use a numbering system which enables us to identify these original nose cones, so if you end up with a starter that has been "remanufactured" with an - almost - look-alike nose cone, the starter may not work on your engine.

In your case, I'd look for one of the part numbers (shown above) on the motor housing of your starter. If you find some other part number, your rebuilder apparently switched your starter with a previously rebuilt one that looked like yours, but not quite.

Don