Chevy Truck Problems

[lvshrs]

Hi!

I am having some problems with 2 of our trucks and have run out of ideas of what the problems are and what to do so I was hoping that someone out there might shed some light on the situation....Also we cannot afford to sell and replace the vehicles as money is tight right now and these are paid for.....so any help is appreciated.

1st truck: 1980 Chevy Silverado 1500 4x4
Its problem is that you can start it up just fine and go around 5 to 10 mile then the engine starts to hesitate then die. You have to wait about 45 minutes then prime the carburator to restart then it will run another 5 to 10 miles and does it again We have put a new electric fuel pump,new fuel lines, and filter. Please help !


2nd truck: 1984 Chevy C3500 1 ton dually
This truck likes to eat starters we have replaced the flywheel twice and the starter 6 times! We have tried shims,no shims,different starters,heavy duty starters etc. We have double and triple checked the flywheel and starters to be sure they were the correct one for this truck. The engine has been replaced, new alternator,new battery,spark plugs and wires etc.

We are at wits end! If you have any ideas as to what is wrong with either of these trucks please let me know! Thanks!

[Virg]

1980 The fuel sock in the tank may be collapsed or plugged. Disconnect line at carb, use hose to tank on ground and check for flow. Pull plugs and check for spark and condition. Narrow the problem down to fuel or spark when it dies on you.
The other truck. It's eating starters or gears? Does it, did it have a heat shield in place? Was the original engine a diesel? if so the flywheel is slightly different. I would remove starter and measure the depth to the flywheel (flexplate) and compare that to the starter gear depth, among other measurements. The fix is easy it you can define the problem better.

[lvshrs]

Hi Virg!

Thanks for replying! We will check the 1980 for that. As for the 84 truck. It was originally a gas engine and we replaced with the same size/type engine. We have measured and remeasured, counted the teeth on the flywheel and starter that kind of thing...as for a heat shield if it had one it has been long gone and we can't find any thing that says it had one. Here is what happens in more detail....We replace starter(making sure it is in the right place) the truck starts great for around 10 days to a month then will start making horrible grinding noises....after we replaced the flywheel the 2nd time the flywheel seems to be holding up fine(no worn/missing teeth) so we then replace the starter to get us by.... Hope this clarifies some things....Thanks for replying though and we will try the lines on the 1980 truck!

[DrippingSprings]

there two types of starter for that truck. a short nose cone and a deeper nose cone. also you might check that the starter isnt hanging low on the back end. a shim may be in order also there is a metric starter that came on small block chevys. ask to see a 3510ms and a p3733ms and youll see what I mean. if you have one now switch to the other. all too many times people work from memeory and hand you a 3510 a 3510ms for a chevy small block when in fact there are three different possibilities just for that year model alone. it isnt 1970 anymore not all small block chevy parts interchange like they used to.

[dadmoonbunny]

did you check the tranny to engine mount bolts? The starter bolts up to the engine block sure, but if you have worn out mounts, or loose tranny to engine bolts (ie- not torqued to specs) then when the engine/tranny experiences the shock of starting torque, things WILL try and shift around. Check flywheel / flexplate bolts as well.

[wy_white_wolf]

On the '80. Vent to the gas tank could be plugged. Next time it does it remove the gas cap while listening to see if it sucks air.

On Idea yet on the '84

[lvshrs]

Thanks everyone on their replies!We checked the lines on the 80 and blew out all kinds of crud so DH manually switched the lines to the other tank checked those lines(nice and clean no crud!) and presto truck stays running! We went for a nice hour drive along the backroads and no problems! Thank you Virg!

As for the 84 truck all the suggestions were great but all have been tried by DH so no luck on that one if anyone else has a suggestion it will be much appreciated. Thanks again everyone!

[Hip_Shot_Hanna]

Is it posible the Starter is trying to go into mesh while you are driving it / it should make one H*** of a noise , Try disconecting the solenoid wire after you started it , Justa thought .

[skruzich]

On the truck that eats flywheels and starters, chances are that its not the flywheel or the starter or the shims. Look at the edge of the surface of where you bolt the starter on. It has a ear that sticks out and if it breaks the edge from the bolt hole out to the edge, you have a nice boat anchor! You won't keep a starter on it or a flywheel on it to save your life. I have a 350 4 bolt main complete engine sitting in the shop right now, worthless because of it.
The fix for it is get another engine.

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by Virg

1980 The fuel sock in the tank may be collapsed or plugged. Disconnect line at carb, use hose to tank on ground and check for flow. Pull plugs and check for spark and condition. Narrow the problem down to fuel or spark when it dies on you.
The other truck. It's eating starters or gears? Does it, did it have a heat shield in place? Was the original engine a diesel? if so the flywheel is slightly different. I would remove starter and measure the depth to the flywheel (flexplate) and compare that to the starter gear depth, among other measurements. The fix is easy it you can define the problem better.

I agree virg. something is limiting the fuel flow

[farminghandyman]

it is extremely rare, but you may have a mis-machined block or transmission,

my 78 ford van had similar problems with the starter (I carried a spare starter in the van, it was that bad) after two flex plates and I don't know how many starters, I really studied the problem and re-machined a nose on a starter to correct the problem and had good luck, finally switched out the auto transmission and never did have any more problems,

[Beeman]

Starter and flywheel problems after replacement are usually caused by poorly made replacement parts. The nose cones are aluminium and the replacements used by rebuilders are usually poorly cast parts that aren't exact as the originals. The same problems occur with flywheels. I use only Pioneer or factory flywheels. I also try to have my starter rebuilt if possible using the original nose piece.
Remove the shield and try starting while someone observes. Also ck. to see if the flywheel is bent and doesn't run true while the engine is running.
On small block Chevy motors in those years there are 2 different starter designs. One has the bolts straight across, the other has them staggered. Most blocks are drilled and tapped to accept both styles. The style or design of the starter must match the flywheel as they used 2 different diameter flywheels. One has 153 teeth, the other 168 teeth. The starter and flywheel must be matched in design and size, I'm going by my useless memory but I believe the 168 tooth flywheel uses the staggered bolt starter.