[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by P@blo

Thanks for the detailed response FormulaJones. I figured it would not hurt to ask if there might be something else at play but sounds like you know what is goung on. Starting this fall I will inspect my pinion snapring to make sure it is not coming loose.

The main reason I went with a nippodenso starter was for the hotstart issue and have luckily been trouble free for me so far.

You'll probably be fine. I just find that a weak link it seems.

I ran one of the powermasters on a 400SBC about 25 years ago. It was my daily driver and after about 2 years of daily use that starter started making a little noise. Nothing horrible but I noticed it started getting louder on the flexplate. Never left me stuck.

So I pulled that starter and the snap ring was still intact but I noticed when I grabbed the gear it would wobble just a bit. I suspect the bushing support was starting to wear which was always one of my concerns since that gear just sticks out with no support on the end. When that thing jumps out and engages trying to spin the engine over, that's a tremendous amount of force on the gear and shaft. I still have that starter up on the shelf.

Most guys here don't daily drive these cars though, so it's probably not something most would worry about. With the little driving that most do with their classic cars, one of these starters might go 5 years or 10 years without a problem.