I have a 96 F150 4X4 5.0/302 Auto Reg Cab Long Bed that the starter was going out on so went down to my local OReilly's picked up a BRAND NEW not remanufactured, Ultima Gold starter, climbed underneath the truck pulled the old starter out, installed the new starter. Started right up like a champ. (Made sure to check the connections, all the wires look to be ok, no major rust or damage there, also hooked up the volt meter to make sure, getting 12.58 volts to the starter).

The issue is under a load and during regular driving I can hear the stater and/or flywheel grinding, not just a little, but quite a bit! Has anyone experienced this after replacing the starter with a brand new one? I'm not driving the truck around at this point because I don't want to do any damage to the flywheel, but really would like to get this thing fixed up quick. The old starter didn't grind at all, but definitely was on its way out, almost left me stuck in a parking lot were it not for the tried and true BFH (hit it with the hammer a few times and started right up and limped it home about 2 miles).

I've seen a few things on the net about getting some shims to put inbetween the starter and the bolt holes, but usually in the context of installing a remanufactured starter, would this also be the case with a new one? Visually inspected the flywheel and didn't see any visible damage or excessive wear, so I'm at a loss.

Any ideas?

 

is it the right one ? different length for auto trans and manual. one to long will start motor but not disengage. also i had a bad solenoid on a topaz that would stick and stay engaged. please post what you find.

 

Got some starter shims from the autoparts store, going to try to install shims in various combinations to see what works.

Anyone got any other ideas???

If this doesn't work, going to request a motorcraft replacement and see if that is any different.