1996 chevy lumina 3.1 L. Bought in June, 2015 with 67k. Added new intake and head gaskets. No rust anywhere. Runs smooth no oil use between changes. 30 mpg hwy. Nov, 2023 has 145k.
All the years I have worked on my own cars I have never had a starter flywheel issue before this car.
Issue. This is the third flexplate I have had to replace because the starter eats the teeth on ring gear. It is shimmed correctly. It does not sound good starting for awhile and then starts eating teeth. Why?
have you tried another starter? maybe the bendix isn't fully engaging
About all I can think of is either the ring gears you're getting are not very good quality (made in China?) or the starter is wrong, or starter drive misaligned against the flexplate.
All parts are OEM.
Tried to edit original but maybe unable after a comment.
There's a time limit for going back and editing.
Even OEM parts can be a crap shoot these days. Something is obviously off kilter with that starter and/or flex plate, and it's not that all that complex a setup in there.