On Thu Apr-22-1993 15:05, Roy Witt (1:387/22) wrote to Roger Nelson:

 RW> 30 Apr 12 21:06, Roger Nelson wrote to Roy Witt:

 RN> While I was still in the work force, I remember something about a
 RN> recall on certain Chevy models because of the starter overheating.

 RW> That's been a Chevy problem ever since they offered V8s in their
 RW> cars and trucks. It's not necessarily a 'starter' problem, but a
 RW> low voltage problem due to the way they run the power. While Ford
 RW> runs their battery cable to a remote solinoid, GM mounts the
 RW> starter solinoid to the starter. 

 RW> GM's solinoid exciter wires have to run to the ignition switch,
 RW> then to the solinoid, where they get heated up by the exhaust
 RW> running too close to them.

That's good information, Roy, and very informative for the posters and the
lurkers.  I knew much of it already, but let me say that none of my Chevys
ever had that problem and I don't know why.

 RW> The fix is to use a Ford remote solinoid to alleviate the voltage
 RW> loss across the GM solinoid. Of course GM won't do that, instead
 RW> they put heat shields on them.

Had I encountered that problem, I probably would have found a better
solution than GM did.

 RN> I think they encased it in a protective wrapping of some kind or
 RN> installed a heat shield, but my memory of that is vague.

 RW> They used an asbestos wrap in the early years. Now they use a die
 RW> cut sheet metal shield. Which is interesting, because the shield
 RW> heats up and transfers the heat to the starter, defeating the
 RW> purpose of the shield. 

Your memory is better than mine.  I thought installing a metal heat shield,
now that you've refreshed my memory, was a dumb idea.

 RW> The best fix for this is to route the exhaust away from the
 RW> starter, which is what they've done since the mid-eighties. On my
 RW> 56 Chevy, the exhaust header pipes exited the center, thus running
 RW> 4 hot tubes next to the starter. I re-engineered that exhaust by
 RW> using 1995 truck headers, which gather at the back of the engine
 RW> and run down behind the starter next to the bell housing.

A good solution.

 RN>> That Chevy has been sitting for over a year now and I'm almost sure
 RN>> the engine isn't going to be functional when and IF she has it
 RN>> repaired.

 RW>> Why non-functional? Something else wrong with it?

 RN> The engine has not been run in almost two years now.

 RW> Bet it will fire right up if someone takes the time to change oil
 RW> and coolant, maybe put in a set of plugs and wires.

And she'll still be faced with the same problem.  Whoever wanted $500 to
fix that car must be out of business by now if they tried to stick it to
all of their potential customers.  If only she had come to me that
situation would not exist now. And I doubt if she will ever run that car
again, now that she has our daughter's Suburban.


Regards,

Roger 
--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+