1983 Buick Regal Starter and possible ring gear probs

TRELLIS

MEMBER
1983 BUICK REGAL
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
112,000 MILES

(has 4.1 V-6)
Replaced starter with rebuilt about a month ago. Instructions said may need to use shims if hear noises. Hear grinding noise and no turning of flywheel occasionally. Can rectify by manually turning the flywheel to a different position---car will then crank normally. Have tried up to (3).015 shims to position starter closer. Didn't help. Haven't yet tried to position shims to bring starter farther away from ring gear. Because a lot of work one shim at a time and think real problem may be in ring gear. Pulled flywheel cover to check ring gear. Doesn't seem all that bad to me. A little knicked at tops of gears in some places, but nothing I couldn't file down if I had to to make it smoother. How bad does a ring gear have to look to need to be replaced? I would think it would have to look real bad, maybe with missing teeth. But I could be wrong.

1 Reply

MERLIN2021

MECHANIC
17,250 POSTS

You should try to use the same shims the old starter had, also it could be a bad bendix drive on the starter itself, rebuilds are known to be poor quality! Try a different starter, or replace the bendix drive(front) part of it. Rotate the flywheel all the way around, a bent flywheel, or like you said, missing teeth can also cause it, but the starter is way more common!