Hi. Very basic mechanical experience here. I just picked up a 1989 F150 Lariat XLT 6cyl which had a bad starter. I'm going to put the new starter in and there are a couple of cables I'm not sure where they go. I did not remove the starter - the guy I bought it from did. I was under before he did and I noticed one wire hanging but paid it no mind at the time. On closer inspection I see it appears that it may have had an O shaped fastener attached but the O is missing and all that remains is the crimped fastener portions on the wire. That one I'll have to try to track back to see where it comes from.

I don't have a manual yet and most likely none of the shops around here will have one in stock. I've tried searching the internet but can't find an answer to my question despite trying different wording.

The other cable is from the negative terminal on the battery. Does this go on one of the bolts holding the starter to the engine? If not, where does that negative battery cable supposed to go to?

thank you

 

Yes it does.

It sounds like you may have bought the wrong starter. The starter you need has a solenoid mount on top of it.
If it just has a place for the big cable you have the wrong starter.

I take it this wire with the "O" on it is a little wire compared to the larger cable going to the starter.
The right starter will have a place for the small wire on its solenoid.

The small wire is coming from the starter relay mounted on the fender by the battery.

 

I'm pretty sure the bat- grounds to one of the starter bolts on the I6. Your description of the other is not clear to me, but it sounds like they broke the end off of the pos cable at the starter end. If that's the case you will need a new cable.

 

Are you sure, Joe has a 1989. If I'm not badly mistaken a 1989 has only the one large battery cable going to the starter from the fender mounted solenoid and no small electric wires.

 

Looks like the odd thick cable with the missing 'O' connector was the old OEM negative battery cable. I saw the extra terminal post connector tucked in the top this morning and followed it to the end with the missing connector so that mystery is solved.

The small cable coming off the solenoid, which comes from the battery pos terminal, is intact. So that's good.

Thanks for the help!