'78 camaro going thru starters like they're going out of style

wrote: ( '78 camaro )

My starter died and I replaced it with a Pep Boys reman which lasted less than a month. Another replacement Pep Boys starter lasted only a week. So I bought one from Kragen. They also seem to last only a couple of weeks. If I shim the starters according to the instructions, cracks appear in the nose cone. If I don't shim them, no cracks appear but the starter motor dies anyway. The car is driven only 2-3 days a week. Any ideas?

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What is the failure mode?

What failed in the original starter that died? What failed in the starter that lasted less than a month? What failed in the starter that lasted a week? Did the Kragen starter fail? What failed in the starter that died anyway? Do the nose cone cracks appear during installation or after starting?

It is hard to diagnose a starter problem with no description of the problem symptoms other than "it died" or "it didn't last". The only thing common to all of the replacement starter failures is that you specified them and you installed them. Perhaps there has been an engine change and you are purchasing the wrong starter. Or perhaps your starter does need a shim, but not the shim you are using. When you shim it, confirm that the gear clearance is correct as specified. If not, add or subtract shims until it is.

Good luck.

Rodan.

If you are cracking the nose support, I would look carefully at the flywheel/flex plate for wear. The shims are to set the correct radial depth of engagement. Removing too many shims will make it too tight. An unevenly worn ring gear on the flywheel may have a radial runout causing the starter nose to crack which is telling you to add shimming unless you have way too many shims and it is trying to jump out of engage because of not enough depth.

Lugnut

You don't say the failure symptoms but you mention shims and cracks so I figure zing zing zing failure?

You aren't going to like my answer, but when that has happened to me, it was a dead flywheel. The teeth were worn down so they wouldn't hold the starter gear stable causing it to jump teeth which cracks nose cones while eating more of the ring gear.

I had a 'lifetime' warranty starter do this to me because the pricks didn't put a new nose bushing in during their 'rebuild'. This caused the first skipping which caused every other starter after to die really early. Mine didn't have shims to play with.

I had to pull the motor to change the ring gear.

Mike

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Try getting one from NAPA, CarQuest, the dealer, or some other reputable place that sells car parts. Stuff from Pep Boys, Autozone, Kragen, is only going to last a month, and that's if you are lucky. A new starter made in China off of eBay is probably just as bad. The "lifetime" warranty you are getting on those crap rebuilds really means that you will spend a lifetime changing out the part.

i agree on shims and you may have a differnt motor also and getting the wrong sarter..always take starter to where your going to buy it and make sure they match up.. and do check your flywheel teeth.. good luck.....

You also might want to make sure your ignit1on timing is not way advamced.