Mopar Forums - 75 /6 225 starter shim and flexplate

The guy I bout by my car from let it sit for about 8-10 months. He said he rarely even started it during that time. Just recently it sat for about a month in my driveway because of the absolute horrible sound it was making; I thought the worst. I started to think the main bearings were gone. I had a few shop hired mechanics come and listen to it and literally SECONDS after turning the engine over, they told me not to shut it off and leave it off.

Well, I was irritated one day and decided to drive it around town. A guy in his 70's pulled up next to me in his 70's model Dodge truck and said "Hey, check the flywheel". I would never have thought about that in a million years!

Just the other day I removed the starter to check the fly wheel and the starter and flywheel were both in good condition. I did however notice that the flexplate bolt was almost falling out! Well, it had become so lose that it destroyed the starter shim.

The next day, I put the car on stands, removed the trans cover and ALL of the felxplate bolts were almost out. I got some loctite and wrenched em back in, slapped the starter back on and it purrs like a kitten! I couldn't believe it.

I hope to see that old man again and shake his hand.
Here is a pic of the starter shim...