Put a good set of silicon plug wires on to rule out your ignition wires leaking,do not run any wires under the distributor,you can also plumb in a 4 lbs n/o oil pressure switch into oil pressure gallery and tie it in series to the distributor wiring so that there is no ignition until oil pressure is achieved ,once the engine is spinning ,oil switch closes and ignition is applied.If you do both of those things it should correct the fault.
Cheers

Hi meto i have done the same with shims on various truck over the years and found that starter gears vary in diameter (not much) and shimming works but you do have to re tighten the bolts.
I have also cut the length of the starter gear shaft so the gear comes further back into the starter. Also on some starters the mounting holes are elongated so you can alter the meshing of the gears.
If it dose not sound right when turning there is a problem.

you sometimes have to shim the starter on the gm lpg trucks to stop starter kick and alighnment to flywheel

At the end of the day the all the timers and braces etc are only required due to a totally crap design, we have had issues on the 4 cylinder, V6 and V8, whoever thought of the design wants they head testing!!

We have seen more of these issues and we have become more and more familiar with this. We actually witness a block break in front of our eyes on a brand new engine and starter in a Hyster while testing it before sending it back to the customer. We have surmised that A. the GM block has a poor design. B. We have only seen it occur on propane units. C. Nearly all manufactures have come up with there on "fix". Cat/Mitsi time delay, all the others brackets of different sizes and arrangements. One thing to watch out for is we have ordered and compared different manufacturer bolts from both industrial and automotive applications. The outer bolt hole in the block sometimes has casting slag near the top so a bolt slightly too long will bottom out and crack the block as well. The bottom line is there is something or a combination of things that cause it and even with all the parts correct it can still break.

Most of the after market starters don't have the extended studs to attach the bracket to and some customers would just toss them and trouble was on its way as all the weight of the starter is on the back end. pounding over dock plates or rough yards did not help without the weight supported. I have made my own brackets as the threaded holes are there in the block and order new mounting bolts each time as they are knurled for some bite. If your bell housing gets cracked holes you can drill through from underneath grind a little flat spot on top of bell housing and come right through with a longer bolt, washer and lock nut not easy but do able. Good luck

I have a Clark CGC70 with this engine in my fleet. I never installed this delay kit. Perhaps it came with it. But I have changed starter twice in it already. First type of cage installed originally did not fit retrofit updated starter and had to be modified. I was not going to spend over $400 for starter brace. Engine had never experienced any issues with breaking off the nose cone. I also changed starters in other makes with the same engine like Hyster S155 which used Denso gear reduction starter which bolts to transmission housing. Toyota 5FGC50 which uses Denso and bolts to transmission, Cat FGC50K which uses simple brace from ground to oil pan bolt. And none of them experienced problem Clark design had. It makes me believe GM designed this engine to fit multiple transmissions without need of redesigning tranny housing to accomodate starter and it did not worked out very well.

Did anyone get instructions for installing a time delay kit? I currently am fighting with a ring gear issue.

tomw, if you see this, what is the fix for the issue with the starter bolt holes being machined off? I have a lift I know this is the issue with. When the motor is pulled and the starter engaged the teeth do not mesh in far enough to get a good seat with the flywheel. I tried shaving the starter and that got it to fit a little better but in time it managed to give me the same problem chewing up starters and flywheels all the same. I know what sound you are talking about almost like a scratching sound that is created by this problem and it's not normal for it to be like that. I've spent alot of money and time on this lift any extra input would be helpful.

I worked for Hyster for 12 years and saw many of the 4.3 engines. Had starter problems, breaking nose cone, or breaking bolts off with only one or two. Biggest cause? Not crappy design, but tech not tightening the bolts up, using other than the starter bolts. Didn't need to add anything. Many of these trucks had 8,000 to 10,000 hours on them without issue. Use correct bolts and tighten correctly, the bracket keeps the starter from miss aligning should the mounting bolts become loose.

I agree w/ Danny, the single biggest reason is the crap design.

GM doesn't have the problem either, since 1996 when they went to a system that does not provide a spark until the 2nd revolution of the motor, forklifts and boats have the problem with the design of the starter because they didn't go to a system that prevented a spark before the motor had a chance to get moving the right way.

The biggest single reason is that it is a totally crap design and other manufacturers do not have this problem.

I spoke to my starter supplier and he told me that the bracket really doesn't do much. He told me that the biggest single reason for starter/block issues is the engine timing.

How are you going to delay it for 1/2 second after a restart, if in fact that is how it works. One could make a simple R C circuit similar to that of the wiper delay in a car. It probably save alot of $.

Wouldn't an oil pressure or vacuum switch in the ignition circuit serve the same purpose? Plus- these 2 items would have the added bonus of saving the igntion circuit from damage if the ignition key is left on by accident

the problem, as I understand it (and I think have a pretty fair understanding of this) is that, in a -non- emissions controlled truck, that the coil generates a spark when the circuit is broken, which happens as the key is moved from the 'on' position to the 'crank-start' position, before the starter ever engages the fly wheel, which in a motor with good compression the motor will be slightly before TDC in it's rotation. this will cause a spark that causes the engine to ignite whatever gases were left in the cylinder, and the engine will be moving in the opposite direction as the starter Bendix engages the flywheel.
This does not happen in trucks built since 2004, as the emissions computer is what powers the ignition circuit, and it does not provide any power to the ignition until the engine has provided a signal from the crank sensor to assure the motor is turning (2 revolutions before any spark).
the time delay (PN that is suggested above), when properly wired in, allows the starter to engage/crank for 0.5 seconds before any spark is allowed to the ignition.
I have seen far too many time when the wiring was misunderstood and the time delay was wired in such a manner as to make the starter wait 0.5 seconds after the ignition circuit came on (which almost works right, since any 'rock back' caused by the single stray spark may have stopped before the starter engaged.

I strongly suspect the root problem is in the starter mounting holes location in the block. GM has had this issue before with blocks machined across the border. This can result in the starter drive not meshing deeply enough into the ring gear. After some period of time the gears wear enough the starter drive "climbs" on top of the ring gear teeth and something has to give. Starter bolts break, the ear on the block breaks off, or the starter nose breaks.
It can be determined if this is actually the problem by "blue printing" the gear engagement pattern and cranking the engine for a couple of seconds.
If the engine has the classic "chrysler" cranking sound that can be a clue that the tooth engagement is suspect.
In some applications the gear pattern can be "blue printed"
without pulling the engine.
Hope this helps.

Can you be more specific about the starter problem?

you have a starter problem call this guy Doug 1 905 791 2485 the man is a wizzard