I have an '01 zo6. My starter went out the other day so i ordered a new one. Was going to put it on myself and saw what looked to be a break in one of the brackets that holds it on so i decided to take it to a shop to have it done instead. Anyway, come to find out. . the block is cracked. . well. . where the starter mounts to the block, on that lower corner, tha aluminum broke cleanly off. Anyone ever heard of that happening or know a good fix without taking the motor out. They are going to see about welding the piece back on with the motor in the car but doubt that's gonna work. I hate to spend around $1500 to pull the motor just to weld one small spot. If anyone has heard of this happening, please let me know what was done to fix it. Thanks guys!!

 

Never heard of it happening

 

If it's a good amount of surface area, you might want to try an aluminum epoxy. It's almost as strong as a weld. I would guess that your block casting had a flaw in it that allowed a crack to propogate until failure. Have a metalugist take a look at the broken off piece. You may have a case.

Good luck.

 

I'm now looking at the same problem with a broken starter mount on the engine block. Did you ever get yours repaired? Did the engine come out?