V6 Delco starter woes

So my '5s starter is toast. Pulled it off to find it was cracked. I'd been having an issue with the Jeep cranking over slowly (still starting). Finally at TDS this year it wouldn't start. Cranked very slowly even with a good battery for about a second, before grinding and grinding.

Parked it after TDS and just yesterday decided to see what the starter looked like.
I found this. Now I'm trying to figure out what caused it while I try to figure out how to pay for a new one.
I'd like to be fairly sure I'm not gonna crack another starter.
All the bolts were tight, the solenoid on it was a replacement, all its posts/studs were loose and sloppy.
No shims on the starter at all, barely any visible wear on starter or flywheel.

So should I be worried? Or just toss another in there?

 

Did your front drive shaft smack it?

 

Not that Ive seen. I inspect my Jeep before and after every trip. But now that I look at these pictures, that looks like a fairly fresh impact mark. Next time I'm in the area I'll have to look at it in person.

When I got back from my last trip I didn't see any starter cracks.

 

Don't waste your time looking for a rock that you may have smacked to break the starter because that didn't happen. You know when you install the starter there is a lot of wiggle room inside the bell-housing. Nothing in there to break the nose piece off the drive end housing. The back end of the starter would have had to been pulled DOWN to cause that break.
This condition can be caused by the engine kicking backwards during a starter crank.
This condition can be caused by rolling backwards with transmission in a forward gear which turns the engine backwards and hitting the starter. (reverse torque).

 

That little boss that hangs down looks like the driveshaft smacked it.

 

The ignition was a mess on my '66 when I got it, kicking back trying to start and so forth. The starter nose was cracked up just like yours.

 

I was actually discussing this with a friend after I logged off last night. Good to see our idea wasn't unfounded.

Yes it does, I noticed when I took another look at the pictures I posted.
I'll take a look at the starter, I'm thinking more along what Walt Couch said as to what caused the cracks. But I know the front driveshaft has lightly rubbed the starter before.
So I'll check and see if it could have also been hitting the starter.

 

Your Signature says you have a dana 30. Your original dana 27 axle had a bump stop that looked like this. It was designed to push the pinion down when the suspension was compressed to protect the starter. I suspect you don't have that any more.

 

The D30 Jeeps hae one of these on each side, presumably to change the spring compression geometery and keep from hitting th starter or whatever -

 

My sig says its getting torn down for the D30 . The D27 is still under the front end.

 

My Dad has owned my 1970 with the v-6 since it was new. I remember this being a common problem threw the years. I asked my Dad about it and he said he probably changed at least a dozen starters over the years with that same exact problem. He said he believed it was caused by roling back and bumping the starter to start the motor. He said it was so common that he carried an extra in the Jeep.(Just my 2 cents!)

 

My original starter had a small L bracket that attached from the starter body to the block. The hole was drilled and tapped into the starter body and the block.
The replacement starter on it now does not have that tapped hole in it.
So the bracket is not installed.

 

Should I fab up one for the next starter?

 

I thought about doing that to my replacement starter.
I didn't feel like taking it all apart to drill and tap the hole that's needed.
With my luck, I'd ruin the starter.
I still have that old starter and could probably tale pics or measurement of where it's located in/on the starter body.
I still have the small bracket as well.
Do you have the hole in the block, it's under the starter towards the end plate?

 

I'll have to look tomorrow when I can get to the Jeep again.

 

Crawled under it and took a peak. I didn't see any holes. I tried to take a couple pictures.