Broken starter mount

[chevyman24]

Hey guys need a little help i have 2002 camaro z/28. Car has been running fine leaving to go to work
the other day go to crank it and i hear this loud noise that sounded like the starter come to find out some how the starter
broke from its mount it actually broke the mount on the starter and the other side on the tranny has anyone heard of this?
If so how the heck do you fix it? Thanks for any help.

[98TransAmWs-6]

Can you post up a picture?

[cammed goat]

Sounds like a Honda Accord that came into my shop a week ago. A bolt had worked itself loose and the starter twisted upon startup and one of the mounting ears snapped off the starter opposite the side with the loose bolt. I agree with posting the pic so we can get a better idea of what we're dealing with. The Accord my coworker dealt with just needed a new starter.

[2002ssslp]

Let's see some pics. If the break is not too bad I'm sure Rube Goldberg will have a fix for it without costing a fortune.

[chevyman24]

Ok i'll try to get some pics tomorrow.

[chevyman24]

I FOUND THIS PIC ON LS1 IT LOOKS JUST LIKE MY PROBLEM.

[SMWS6TA]

I FOUND THIS PIC ON LS1 IT LOOKS JUST LIKE MY PROBLEM.

hate to be the bearer of bad news....

2 options:

Hope you can find a shop that can tig weld and repair the block (very low success + high $$) Some shops won't touch this job because the block is aluminum.


OR

Start looking for a new block.....

[jiveass]

time for a 6liter

[0rion]

there have been people in the past that have had luck finding a place to weld that back up. Your best bet is to find a good welding shop.

[pajeff02]

Agree. That is the nice thing about aluminum vs. cast iron -- you can weld and repair aluminum. Any competent fabricator/welder should be able to fix that. Unfortunately, this has happened to others as well.

[speedyWS6]

hate to be the bearer of bad news....

2 options:

Hope you can find a shop that can tig weld and repair the block (very low success + high $$) Some shops won't touch this job because the block is aluminum.


OR

Start looking for a new block.....

I wonder why you would state it is low success? I imagine you attribute the high cost to the awkward
position as to do a proper job the trans would have to come out (In my opinion). Tig welding Aluminum relies
on the utmost of cleanliness and the area would have to be de-greased and prepped for any success but,
assuming this happened then the actual welding is the "easy" part. I also wonder if the broken off part is
still around to offer up and weld back on as this would ease the problem somewhat and take away any fabricating
issues....



Whoops... i meant the motor!!

[chevuman260]

To weld it correctly i would recommend pulling the motor. Usually on cast aluminum it will need to be pre heated with a torch to get a good weld. I would say look for a new block. The success rate of welding cast in a high stress area is low.

[Firebirdjones]

I agree on pulling the engine if you want to attempt a weld.

I can weld it, but I have no interest in attempting it while in the car. Just not enough room for me to work.

Might find a shop willing to do it in the car, just have to check around. Not sure on cost, and without the piece that broke off I'd hate to imagine.

[35th-ANV-SS]

Being an engineer, I know a little about metals and castings in general. However, I am no metal fabricator or metallurgist.

All castings are different, whether they are the same material or not. Castings in general have porosity and impurities, so having it clean is probably the most important factor prior to even attempting to weld it. Also, as someone else stated, you will need to properly heat the area prior to welding. A good welder should know how to properly heat the area. You may also want to consider cleaning the welding rod with Scotchbrite prior to using it.

You do not want to use a steel or brass wire brush to clean it, as that will contaminate the surface. Also, more Argon pressure is needed to weld AL cast.

[0rion]

learn something new everyday I guess......I was doing some reading on this issue since it's been a while since I've ran into someone having this happen. I'll share what I've learned. I know for a fact in the past people have had luck by having the block welded....in the car. So if you find the right welder that's a possibility. Anyhow....GM has been aware of this problem because they've updated the starter mounts as far as I can tell. The updated starter is actually a truck starter (delco 6488) and has a beefed up housing with a longer bolt to replace the short side. Some have said this is the starter they now get when replacing their starter but all the searches I've done at auto parts stores are still turning up the short sided starter. Might be something to file away for future use because what happens a lot of times is that short side on the starter breaks allowing the starter to torque which then breaks off the ear of the block on the long side.
I'll steal a couple of pictures to show you the difference:
old starter


truck starter


For those with the busted block that don't have the option to weld there is a guy making a work around. It's called a starter bridge. At $370 it's not a cheap fix but having someone come out and weld up the ear probably isn't going to be very cheap either. The option is there though. Price them both out....at least you have options.
starter bridge:

[pajeff02]

First I had heard of the bridge -- neat idea. Ever see a pic of one installed? Curious to see what it looks like.

[35th-ANV-SS]

I would like that starter bridge a lot more if it were cast like that with some generous radii on the bends. Those welds don't look like they'd hold up well under any kind of load long-term.

Anyone have any experience with using one?

[0rion]

again...stolen pic



might as well steal this one too....notice how many mount points it has. That would spread the stress out quite a bit so you're not getting stress on just those 2 bolts.

[SMWS6TA]

interesting.....

[35th-ANV-SS]

Looks like something you could easily fab up in your garage if you had the right tools.