A few weeks ago I had a couple loose starter wires, and got them re-attached in what appeared to me to be a secure manner and it was working as well as ever after that. I've been having to crank it several times to get it going since there is a leak in the injector pump (and because it's a diesel of course) - maybe that's stressing it, or maybe its just ancient - hasn't been tip top, but has worked ok since I bought the truck a year ago. Then today it kept cutting out whenever I tried to crank it over, cranking a little then stopping, then cranking again. I opened the hood, and found smoke coming out of the starter... I'm supposing its burt out for good and its time to switch it out, hopefully there isn't anything that will compromise a new one once I put it in..

BUT, this is an 84 250 w/ the 6.9l diesel and the only starter that is in stock around here/possible to get in the next couple of weeks is a gear-reduction starter, v. what I assume is the one that is in it right now, non-geared. Is it fine to put the gear reduction one in? Better? Worse? I'm assuming its ok since it's said to be compatible, just wanted to see if anyone has experience with this type of situation...

Thanks,
Mira

 

In my place here way down south I have the option of either new (not reman) or good electrical guys to rebuild these components. Heat /smoke can mean shorted windings, but the guys around here can be relied on for an honest appraisal. Do you have this option? For replacement I would normally chose gear reduction over straight drive given all other components/wiring in good order.

 

I changed mine out last year for a gear reduction. Spins faster. Its the way to go for a diesel. Faster cranking is good!!

 

Go gear reduction, there is a reason why ford changed over from the direct drive early on with these trucks.

There are several different style gear reduction starters that will fit. Some people prefer one style over the other. Honestly, whatever you can get locally with a warranty will work fine.

 

'83 and '84 were stock with a Delco direct drive. You do not need nor want to stick with this design if in fact there still is one in your truck.

Gear reduction is the way to go, your batteries will thank you. There's a lot of opinion as to which gear reduction to get, but my vote's for the Mitsubishi open nosed planetary gear style sold at O Reilly's. I have one in my truck and it turns over like no IDI I've ever had and my batteries are old and tired.

 

hey autozone just gave me one of those open nose type as a replacement this time.
(lifetime warranty.3rd one.i do start my truck about 50 times per day though when working.backing up the chipper to piles,wood.different parts of yards etc.so i go through 'em.)
seems to work the same as the original style i had before but it fit a little easier during install being a bit shorter.

 

My used ultima gear reduction kicks the crap out of the mitsubishi that came on my truck. If I had known I had a mitsubishi before it took a dump I would have scrapped it earlier. I'll take a chinese starter over a starter from that jap plane company any day. And I'd take an american starter over that if buying new but beggars cant be choosers

 

but you replaced your starter for a reason to be fair right? i mean,what if you had a new Mitsubishi to compare it with? i always say,wow this one sure is a lot better than the last one....well all worn out vs new it better be right?

 

I get your point but as it burned up it actually turned pretty well, it burned up while priming but had a delayed response and just ground when I tried to leave school that afternoon. I think that the gear reduction made the biggest difference, I crank about a fourth of what I used to so definitely worth it.

 

After running a DB Electrical "performance" starter I don't think I'll run anything else. Starts the truck like you flipped a light switch to turn it on. Really quite impressive.

 

my open nosed Oreliy s Starter is still going strong spins fast...

 

Yeah, I've heard similar reports on those. Got a PN or linky? Anybody know which one spins better? Maybe they are the same starter? For $110 there is no comparison to stockers. :P

This is the one I'm talking about:

DB Electrical - FORD TRUCK & CASE 6.9L 7.3L DIESEL STARTER F250 F350 1985-1994 HI TORK

 

Yeah, that's not the same one, that DB starter has an offset gear reduction, the Mitsubishi has planetary gear reduction which makes it looks like a straight drive:



Standard design above VS Mitsubishi below.

 

I'm going to chime in here and say that a good gear reduction starter -- any of the options we have for our trucks -- work just fine. If it's a good starter.
The problem is the motors. I've seen and heard a lot of brush problems out there; either the factory screwed up making the rotor and the brushes get eaten up in weeks, or one of the brushes fails very quickly, leaving you with a half-powered starter that *might* start on a good day... either way, at that point, it's not a good starter. And this seems to be a failure point on /all/ of the options we have.

I'm currently running a Cummins starter(because I got it for free) of some sort - it's a two-bolt design and it's worked amazingly well; it's the same exact design as the offset denso units. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...know-that.html
Before that, I had a Mitsubishi offset unit; it worked great until the day the brushes failed(which would have been a long time... the top bearing on it was *totally* gone when I found it). I replaced the brushes and now it's my spare.

 

Ah, thanks Chevy eater. I am pretty sure that offset is what I was comparing against for stock. I put a few of those in local fire rescue trucks, and a couple of my buddies swapped them out for the DBE ones. One of my buddies swapped from the non-gear reduction to the offset planetary, and on a different truck of his, we put a DBE one in to replace a worn out offset planetary one. I want to say there is an in-line planetary reduction starter that looks like a direct drive, but I can't remember for sure.

My point is that I have several for comparison. The jump from direct drive to offset is *nothing* like the jump from either to the DBE starter. I am not exaggerating. I am also comparing brand new to brand new.

The DBE one literally has other IDI guys leaning over the hood in parking lots.

Edit: Terminology correction. :P