Starters on Buick motors never need to shim?

Is it right that a starter never need to shim on a Buick engine like my '70 GS350? My last starter made a little noise for some years but the noise became stronger with slipping teeth. Then I disconnect the big wire plug under the steering column for to repair the inner part of the steering column (sector gear). After that it was the end for the starter because he totally slipt over the teeth. I thought that I need to the replace starter. The teeth of the old starter and of the engine looked good when I inspected, but I suspected the solenoid of the starter. After replacing a new starter, he started almost good for two times but sadly soon the noise of the slipping teeth became enormous. Do I need to shim the starter or should the positive wires of the battery be bad? I tested the negative wire already by connecting directly from the battery to the outside of the starter. The positive wire connected to the starter are difficult to reach for to test. At the same time the blinking of turn lights are going too fast after repairing the steering column. Does have anyone experience with slipping starter through bad positive wires (also to the solenoid) or should I to shim the starter? I have read that starters never need to shim on Buick motors.

 

You have to have the correct starter mount bolts. They are knurled so the bolt wedges in the starter bolt hole bores to properly align and hold the starter tight in place. If you use standard type bolts, the starter will likely be misaligned and can shift do to torque and thrust when it engages, and over time you will start having starter grinding/hanging or "jumping out".

If the teeth are damaged in one or more areas from bad engagements, every few starts, you will experience the starter engaging in the bad spots.
It simply gets worse over time.

Look at the ring gear on the flexplate and as you rotate it you will likely see teeth that look as if them have been "milled". Similar to the image below.

 

Yes, you probably need a new flexplate.

 

Thank you all for the reply.
So I don't need to use shims but I have to see if I can move the starter a little bit from his place after turning the bolts a little bit off. I didn't check if there the orginals bolts were mounted but I will try to do that later. I believe those are the same which you can buy on rockauto.com. (Dorman) Does they sell the correct bolts or else where should I buy them better? The old and the new starter are stock starters but not orginal Acdelco. The new one is a Pure Energy 3664S. The old starter and flexplate seems to be good when I inspected and hopefully the flexplate still after last starting. See picture for the most badest place on the flexplate. I have check the flexplate from begin till end. I think it's a stock one but I am not sure.

 

Get GM Bolts:
https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/starter-bolts.326117/#post-2729070

 

Never had to shim a starter on a Buick engine

 

I might have needed to once but I never did. I figured it would clearance itself. LOL

 

I think the bolts are not the problem but I will replace them.
The last starter thatI have tried was a 9 teeth Pure Energy 3664S starter which slipted like the old 9 teeth starter before.
Actually the problem excist since the beginning and became only worsed.
Now I was thinking that the last owner placed a starter or flexplate with the wrong number of teeth.
Could be this a possibility as cause of the problem and how many teeth should I take on the starter, does any have a suggestion for a starter?
When I look on Rockauto.com I see only 9 teeth versions for my 350 engine.

 

There is one issue if using a more modern mini-starter like the SBC uses (about a $90 part). It comes in SAE and Metric versions. You want to be sure to get the SAE version. I *think* the metric will bolt up but doesn't mesh well.

Jim

 

Remember that anything that is not OEM (starter, flexplate) changes the set up and may require adjustments.

 

Chris,

If all the teeth on the ring gear and starter look good. You probably have a bad starter drive gear.
The noise will sound like you are grinding all the teeth off the gears. The next time it will start fine.

Common problem with the old GM starters.

 

3664s starter would have 9 teeth and is correct. Flex plate looks good. Could you possibly have the column switch out of adjustment?

 

Hi Stellar,
Do you mean the contact switch under the steering wheel? I will check that and I will try it with an ACDELCO starter this time.

 

I have counted the teeth on the flexplate and there are 160. I have used Acdelco 3361847 with 9 teeth but this one is after 3 times starting well, also slipping at the moment. Is this not the right one? Official it should be for the 455 but except this one is a little bit stronger, it shouldn't be a problem. 9 teeth starter is correct?

 

What do you mean?

 

Sorry I meant, when I installed the new starter, the Acdelco this time, it has been working great for +/- 3 times starting. I thought that the problem was fixed, but unfortunately not and the slipping got worser and worser like the last starter. Now I have removed the starter again and the teeth are looking again good. Maybe that I tighted the bolts too much?

 

What do you mean by slipping?
Gears can’t/don’t slip

 

You need to explain the symptom better. Is it slipping or is it grinding? If it is slipping, you either have a bad starter drive or a loose ring gear. If it is grinding, the ring gear will need to be replaced. You might get lucky if you file the sides of the teeth on the bad spots. To determine if the ring gear teeth are the problem, you can do this. After an attempt at starting and you hear a grinding sound, move the ring gear a bit by turning the crank pulley a few inches, then try starting again. If it starts without the grinding sound, the teeth are bad enough to cause the problem.