6.2 starter issues.

[joe bleaux]

First off, let me whine. Toss a cantelope in the air and hit it as hard as you can with your fist. Now, put it on the ground, do the same thing. On the ground, the cantelope has no where to go so it explodes. Same with me under the G20 van and the starter hits me square in the face while I am removing it. Okay, pain lesson over.

Now, over the course of this 1984 van's lifespan, I have replace the starter several times and really know better but, NOW, the starter mounting bosses in the block- one of them is now cracked - the one near the passenger side frame.

What to do? I just can't afford a new block/engine. I wonder if I can drill and tap the end of the hole? Is there enough meat left to do this? Surely, this cannot be the end of the world for my "Old Faithful" that I just put a new injection pump in during several blood transfusions and heat exhaustion
problems.

Any bullets or nooses for sale?:mad:

Thanks

Joe

[Robyn]

As long as you can get the hole deeper you can tap it and use a longer bolt.

One of the most important things on these units is to have the front starter bracket installed.
This little metal piece bolts to the side of the block and to a stud on the front plate of the starter.
The bracket stabilizes the starter and takes a buttload of stress off the two main bolts.

The bracket mount will be easily accessable through the RH wheelhouse opening.
Remove them tire/wheel and then you can go in over the frame to get to the area.

If you can get the rear bolt hole with the crack even 1/2 inch deeper you can help the issue a lot.

Biggy though is to stop the starter from trying to tear itself loose.

BE sure the bracket is there.

Best

Robyn

[joe bleaux]

Thanks for your help, Robyn.

Well, the questions are, is there enough metal to drill and tap? How deep can I go? What happens if I go too far?

There are some somewhat new rods that are said to weld cast iron very easy. I wonder if that would be an option after drilling and tapping deeper?

Joe






As long as you can get the hole deeper you can tap it and use a longer bolt.

One of the most important things on these units is to have the front starter bracket installed.
This little metal piece bolts to the side of the block and to a stud on the front plate of the starter.
The bracket stabilizes the starter and takes a buttload of stress off the two main bolts.

The bracket mount will be easily accessable through the RH wheelhouse opening.
Remove them tire/wheel and then you can go in over the frame to get to the area.

If you can get the rear bolt hole with the crack even 1/2 inch deeper you can help the issue a lot.

Biggy though is to stop the starter from trying to tear itself loose.

BE sure the bracket is there.

Best

Robyn

[nlines]

If you can drill the hole deeper and tap it with a bottoming style tap this will give you several more threads to work with. Even without drilling deeper you will gain thread depth using this style of tap.

[Dr. Lee]

If you feel comfortable trying the high nickel cast iron welding rods, go ahead and build up the boss, then drill and RE-TAP for the original bolts.

Robyn is absolutely correct about you being ABSOLUTELY sure that the front bracket is on between the giant MT27 starter and the engine block.

Also, at every oil change I torque the starter bolts to 40 ft-lbs. to be sure they are not gettting loose and gaining a head-start on doing some damage.

[joe bleaux]

Thanks for all of the great information on my starter issue, Nlines and Dr. Lee.

I meant to respond to Robyn's excellent advice about the starter bracket but didn't. The bracket WAS NOT ON and never had been since I had the vehicle. Due to this board, I bought one from a member of the board and had not gotten around to installing it. :mad:

I am going to take a few pictures of the crack and post them for other information and for others too see.

Dr. Lee, I have never welded cast iron but have done plenty of brazing of it. I will have to get some of the very expensive rods and practice on some cast iron.

I also thought of fabricating a girdle/saddle that the starter could bolt to and then bolt to the engine.

Oh, no one commented on my question of how deep can I go when drilling or tapping. I assume that no one really knows.

Thanks.

Joe


If you feel comfortable trying the high nickel cast iron welding rods, go ahead and build up the boss, then drill and RE-TAP for the original bolts.

Robyn is absolutely correct about you being ABSOLUTELY sure that the front bracket is on between the giant MT27 starter and the engine block.

Also, at every oil change I torque the starter bolts to 40 ft-lbs. to be sure they are not gettting loose and gaining a head-start on doing some damage.

[simon]

Thanks for all of the great information on my starter issue, Nlines and Dr. Lee.

I meant to respond to Robyn's excellent advice about the starter bracket but didn't. The bracket WAS NOT ON and never had been since I had the vehicle. Due to this board, I bought one from a member of the board and had not gotten around to installing it. :mad:

I am going to take a few pictures of the crack and post them for other information and for others too see.

Dr. Lee, I have never welded cast iron but have done plenty of brazing of it. I will have to get some of the very expensive rods and practice on some cast iron.

I also thought of fabricating a girdle/saddle that the starter could bolt to and then bolt to the engine.

Oh, no one commented on my question of how deep can I go when drilling or tapping. I assume that no one really knows.

Thanks.

Joe you can drill as deep till it comes out at the other side ,nothing but air above it, chances are the crack is following the hole. imo welding would be better. hard to do with mill in truck.

[joe bleaux]

Thanks, Simon. I was thinking the other side was free air and this was a blind hole. That is encouraging.

I will see what I can do.

Joe




you can drill as deep till it comes out at the other side ,nothing but air above it, chances are the crack is following the hole. imo welding would be better. hard to do with mill in truck.