Last Wednesday, I began having cranking problems with my LT1. Slow cranking with no start, unless she had sit for a while, led me to believe I had a bad battery. When that checked out, I had the alternator tested. That test was fine, so I was left to consider the starter. Once I had her in the air, I noticed a big crack in between the two components of the starter, and it came out in two pieces. Darn, no core charge refund for me, but at least I knew the cause of the problem. The bell on the snout of the starter was also broken, so I fished out the pieces from the flywheel housing and installed the new starter. Although she sounds different when she starts (a high-pitched whine from the new starter), I am back on the road.

Having said that, what could cause a starter to break?

P.S. there is a hemispherical area on the driver's side of the flywheel housing that caught the bits of starter that had broken off. Is this happy coincidence or wisdom in design?

 

If it is the original starter, it is possible that the damage was related to fatigue.

These LT1 cars are starting to push 14-18 years old. A slight flaw in manufacturing over a decade ago could have been the root problem.