Starter motor cracked AGAIN.

A Buick Service Tech Bulletin. May help.
John

 

---------- Post added at 03:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:48 PM ----------

[/COLOR]Check your flexplate/flywheel to make sure it is not bent. Even a slight bend can cause problems if there is a backfire when starting.

Disconnect the wire going to the distributer. Jack the car up some so you can see the flexplate while it is cranking. Watch it as it spins near the starter and look to see if it is wobbling. A slight amount is not unusual.

Many original flexplates have cracks near the mounting holes which may cause a problem with wobble especially under the stress of cranking. The only way to look for a crack is to drop the trans.

 

Retarding the timing before you try to start again would be wise. Turning it a bit and hoping for the best would probably be fine, but if you are nervous you could set it to 0*. I have found that most engines will start with 0* timing, and definitely shouldn't kick back. To set it to zero, you need to set the engine so that cylinder #1 is at Top Dead Center on the power stroke. There are many ways to do this, you can research them in other threads or elsewhere online if you don't know how. If you choose to use the starter to rotate the engine into position, make sure you disable the ignition first!

Anyway, once you are at TDC, attach a timing light to the #1 spark plug, and to the battery as usual. Turn the key to ON, but don't start it. Turn off the lights. Loosen the distributor hold-down. Slowly twist the distributor cap until the timing light flashes- where you see the flash is 0*.

Now that you're at 0*, you should be able to start the car safely, and then use the timing light to set the timing to something appropriate.

If the starter isn't shimmed and secured properly you might still break it, so make sure all that is squared away before you start chasing the timing.