My 56 year-old starter went out yesterday on the 239. I hit the button and it just went "thunk". It hit it a few more times and smelled smoke. opened the hood to find the smoke coming from the starter's back plate. Its a 6 volt starter and I've been running 12v to it for the past 5 years with no real issues. I stopped by Napa and ordered a 12v replacement. When I went to pick it up today it was one for an automatic. So, the correct one is supposed to be in tomorrow. When I took my old one off I noticed the teeth are badly worn on the tips so I'll be swapping that out also with the one off a spare 6v starter I have. I could have used the spare but am hoping to gain faster starting with the 12v unit. Anybody done this before? Any improvements? Before yesterday mine started fine but always had a load roar to it during the cranking process. I just assumed that was because of the voltage difference. Now I'm wondering if it had something to do with the worn teeth.

 

An option for a new 12V starter, matched to a flywheel with heavily worn teeth, is to use a ministarter. They engage from the opposite side of the wheelwheel compared to OEM, so you get a new set of teeth to work with. And the small starters are a lot easier to install compared to the HEAVY original. I have a mini on board from AutoElectric and would not go back.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I went this morning and picked up the new starter from Napa. I had them test my spare while I was there also. After fighting with that heavy monster in the SC sun, fighting that crazy rubber gasket that did not want to seat against the slightly different lip of the new starter, and bumping my head on the axle umpteen times I finally got it in. unfortunatly I got the same results, just a "thunk" when I pressed the button. I checked my shop manual's troubleshooting section and did the following;I jumpered the solenoid and got good spark. I pulled all the spark plugs out and tried to start it, (thankfully) got the same "thunk".
I put the plugs back in, pulled the new starter off, put the spare one on.
Still the same "thunk". I pulled the power wire from the solenoid and the ground wire from the frame off and took them along with the starter back to Napa since they are the originals and are in bad shape. They tested the new starter and it was bad. They made me up some replacement wires and ordered another starter. when I got home I replaced the two wires and hit the button and she started like it was brand new. It was the best crank I have ever heard her do. So, I shut it off and did it few more times

I called Napa and said I would just come by Monday and get a refund.
The mini-starter sounds like a good idea, and would have to be a lot easier to handle than that monster. The teeth on the flywheel are still in good shape, but the ones on the original starter drive were ate up pretty badly.

I also ordered an alternator bracket from Mummert yesterday and picked up a delco 1-wire while at Napa. Replacing the generator is my next project.

 

But Mike, don't you miss the sound? That's part of the Y-Block experience...

 

Not at all Dennis. The sound I always listen for is the first hit of the firing engine . I expect my SBF starter in the 221 V8 sounds exactly like the OEM 292's.

 

Mike, just kidding. Some say the Y-Block starter has a special sound, something to do with the way the drive is setup. Like a flathead.

I have a FE starter on mine so I have no room to talk.