I am out in northern Iowa working for a couple of months and it is darn cold here. First I had weak batteries so I replaced them with a brand new set of 1000 CA 850 CCA batteries and now my truck cranks over like a champ...until this week. When I went to leave work the other afternoon it was about 6 degrees, I had gone out and started my truck at noon and let it warm up so that it would start when I got off work (no place to plug it in during the day). I jumped in and let the glow plugs cycle then when I turned the key to start the bendix didn't make full contact with the ring gear and I got a grinding noise. I let the starter stop spinning and tried again this time the engine cranked real fast for a couple revolutions then the same grinding. Next 2 times I tried I got grinding, then the next time it cranked over and fired up.

This has been going on all week. In the morning after the truck is plugged in and warm it will fire right up, if it sits outside and gets cold it will grind and not engage the ring gear fully for several attempts before it will finally engage, but once it engages fully it cranks the engine over very fast. I think we have had a high temp of about 12 degrees this week and below zero every night.

I pulled the inspection cover on the tranny and the teeth on the ring gear look great. I did a little experimenting and got myself a heated shop to part my truck in last night, this morning the starter engaged first try and started the truck. My thought was that maybe there was some assembly greese on the shaft for the bendix and that greese was getting too thick when it got cold and wouldn't allow the bendix to slide on the shaft. Today I pulled the starter and tried the best I could to spray some brake parts cleaner in the starter to clear out any greese.

Anyone seen this issue before or have any ideas? I really don't want to replace a $200 starter if it is something that can be fixed (and who is to say I won't have the same problem with a different starter) and it is suppose to get warmer next week (in the 20s) but I don't really want to get stranded someplace. BTW I have the Ford 2 bolt starter.

 

It sounds like your starter may have some bad teeth on the starter. I know a guy that has the same problem on his f150 and it has been like that for about 3 years and he is still on the same starter it just takes a few tries before it engages in the cold

 

Have a shop that rebuilds alternators and starters put on a new starter drive. The clutch in the drive may be slipping when it is cold which is what you are hearing. There is a great shop over by Waterloo if you are close. I agree, you don't want to replace a good starter when you don't need to.

 

Update: I forgot to plug my truck in yesterday and when I went out this morning it was 4 degrees. I jumped in and it cranked over right away. I knew it wouldn't start but I wanted to see if I had helped the starter issue any. I plugged it in and an hour later tried again. I am still getting some of the same issues, about 1 in 4 times I would crank the starter it would just grind a bit like it didn't fully engage the ring gear, most of the other times it would crank the engine. I think I helped the starter some but I am still not fully confident in it.

Rob, your idea was my first guess too. I first pulled the inspection cover on the transmission and the teeth on the ring gear looked great, I couldn't find any evidence of mashed gears. When I pulled the starter out I checked out the teeth very closely and surprisingly I had a hard time finding even the normal wear spots.

Farmdad, I am actually 40 miles north of Waterloo in New Hampton. I would appreciate if you could post or PM me with the shop name and a number if you know it. I would love to give them a call and see what they think. I am starting to think you might be right after listening to the starter spin this morning.

Thanks for the replys

 

Gonzo, stop at the CaseIH or the John Deere dealer and ask their service manager who they use for starter repair. There may be someone closer to your area who is good.

I have sent you a PM with the info for the shop down here.

The starter in my '87 F250 /460 is acting like yours. One time when I was mad that it wouldn't engage I held the key in the start position for 5-6 seconds listening to the starter spin and I heard a click. I released and tried it again and it worked perfectly. I have a new starter drive sitting on the work bench but every time it doesn't engage, I spin it till it clicks and then it works fine. Real scientific repair there....