Hey ya'll so i have had my 6.5 for almost 3 years...shortly after i bought it i had to replace the starter. i purchased a brand new one form a place that rebuilds them...about a year after replacing i believe one of my stater bolts fell out and had to be replace...the threads were cocked on it no longer straight...and then about another year after that it happened again but the threads had been snapped off from it. and now on saturday it happened to me again. fixed it and now just earlier today the opposite bolt we just replaced fell out and threads snapped off....is this just a common issue with 6.5's because ive heard that...or is there possibly something wrong with it? any help will be appreciated. this is really starting to frustrate me...but i am thankful , this is the only major issues ive had with this thing since ive got it.

thanks!

 

Not a comun probem - I wood call the starter place. I think you starter threeds r bad cents the threads were cocked and it happened again

its knot a commun problem butt maybee you just got a bad one or sumthing. I no the starter place will fix it so it is rite or we can beet them into submisions

 

With all due respect to the previous poster, it is a known issue with teh 6.X block.

The mounting points are not as robust as they should be.

They have been know to break out or snap right off the block.

It sounds like your bolt hole has some abused threads or they're pretty stripped

This can easily happen if they are installed "cocked" or the starter support is missing on the nose of the starter:



Closer, cleaner pic:



The top LH bracket is the GMT 400 one:



If you do not have this bracket, the starter moves around too much during starting. This can cause broken starter bolts or abused threads in the block holes.

This bracket is NOT optional. You need it and that's why GM installed it there. There's a lot of torque applied to the starter bolts as a result of our engines being relatively high compression diesels. The bracket adds the needed support.

9 times out of ten, it gets tossed when the starter is replaced. Both backyard wrenches and pro's miss it. It's just a piece of stamped steel so they don't give it much thought and forget it. But it is essential on a 6.x engine.

You may get away without it for a while, but the attachments will eventually fail. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually.....

The only cure is when GEP redesigned the blocks and added more "meat" in the starter mounting area. The bracket is much cheaper than buying a new engine though.

If your's is missing and you can't find on at the wreckers or dealership, a simple piece of angle iron cut to fit works just as well. It's all about not letting hte starter nose "bounce" when starting and working the bolts/attachment. It's not evident to the naked eye, but it does move.

Like so:





Those last pics belong to a guy named Barry, not me.

 

thank you soo much! that has helped a ton. i have a feeling that when my father replaced the starter for me he didnt put that piece on...either that or it wasnt on there to begin with from the previous owner... i has researching a bit and can across this was a common problem that people forget about it and was thinking that was my isssue...once this weather out here gets nice again ill def go take a look. thanks again!!

 

no prob....

 

Here's what I did yest to avoid paying $15 for the bracket... Be warned, I talk alot