I was told that the reason the starter is grinding on the flywheel is because the stock 9 tooth bendix gears that come in the starters have the incorrect spacing for the flywheel. A couple of people have said that you can change the 9 tooth gear out of your starter with a 10 tooth gear. Does anyone know where i can find this gear at? And if so do you happen to know the part number? I cant seem to find it anywhere. Also how hard is it to switch the bendix gear I have never done that before? Thanks

 

Try a napa store for a gear listing. Probably the best bet for a new one would be a dealer. What I've done before is take the gear off the original starter and put it on backwards after radiusing the end of the teeth with a deburring wheel. In a pinch this works very well, I ran one for 50k and it was still working well. swapping the gear is pretty easy, just remember to only use a dry lubricant if anything on the shaft. They like to be clean!

 

I had to look myself at my information on the Bronco 2 starter from 1984 to 1990, they all take the same 3188 starter assembly, now if all take the same starter, why would they use a different drive inside carrying the same part number? I would say to check the thrust bearings at the crankshaft, remove the starter and use a big screwdriver and apply pressure on the front side and backside of the flywheel and see if it moves in and out, if it does, thrust bearing problems.
Now to help you alittle more,
Starter gear is actually the gear that you see inside the drive end of the starter, Bendix is the name of an early manufacturing Co. of the drive gear assembly. Ford Bronco 2 drive gears where all 9 tooth, and all the same.
You said that the drive gear was grinding on the flywheel, the face of the flywheel and the face of the drive gear clutch, or the drive teeth are grinding into the flywheel teeth, If this starter is setup correctly from the factory or the rebuilder, it will not allow the drive to spin until it is engaged into the flywheel teeth. If you want to see if I am blowing smoke, remove the starter from the vehicle, place on bench or floor, remove tin cover shiel over length of starter and you will see a rectangular block of steel that moves up and down, you will also see a set of copper contacts, the steel plunger is pulled down towards the copper contacts as you turn the switch to start, or apply battery power to the starter when the plunger opens the contacts, the starter motor rotates the drive, locating it into the flywheel by the chamfers on the drive teeth, now if you use a screwdriver to stop the plunger (by placing under plunger assembly) from pulling the contacts open, the armature should not rotate with speed, if it does, have starter repaired.
Hope this helps you get your ride right. Electric1

 

greetings.is this any help :
..the
proper starter FOR THIS PROBLEM had a drive .1 larger and
that it protruded .05 further into the flywheel.The
part, is available through
carquest. The part # is 72 3170 10. [10 tooth bendix]
warping of the bellhousing was often the causitive factor.
REMEMBER THAT THE OEM STARTER ON WAS 9
NOT TEN TOOTH!!!

cheers,dobbie [79 F150,96explEB] &remember GM owners have it tougher what with all those silly shims-know of one car that needed 6