[gtofreek]

Originally Posted by Cliff R

Wear on the lower bushing should only happen in one place as it's got a helical cut gear on it and the cam is trying to push it away I one direction only.

Wear all the way around without any damage to the shaft tells me it was probably pretty darned loose or the wrong size right to start with as it really can't move around in a circle like that with the cam driving it, unless of course the shaft has a pretty good bend in it someplace.........Cliff

Also, when I rebuilt starters for a living, I saw on many occasions where the starter bushings wore out all the way around the shaft, and not just directly across from the ringgear. Once the bushing gets loose, the shaft just starts bouncing all over the place. According to your logic, those bushings would only be worn directly across from the ringgear. Just doesn't work that way.