Spent the day at the lake with my boat... First time out since putting in the 5.0L from the explorer. She ran pretty damn good... It really moved the boat along pretty easily. All in all I am happy. Still a few bugs to work out though...

I had been having trouble starting; I had been assuming it was a battery issue since it had been sitting for a while. Turns out it was more of a connector post on the starter breaking off issue. Fortunately I went out with a friend and we were able to get it started by holding the wire on what was left of the post so I got it back without any issue.

So my question is... What are the options? I know I can replace; I found I rebuilt job on ebay for $88 w/ free shipping. What about getting it rebuilt at a local shop? Has anyone done this with a starter? Is it probably going to be cheaper to get one that has already been rebuilt? Getting a used one at a junkyard isn't an option cause its gotta be Marine 'approved'.

One last question... The starter is spec'd for a 74 302. It works for my 5.0L but I was wondering if this perhaps was pushing its limits somehow... It seems these are similar enough but if I need a new one, I might as well get one that is rated properly.

Thanks!

 

or get a brand new mallory starter for $210 from summit.

 

I've never heard of a "marine approved" starter. I'd go to the local parts house and buy a new starter spec'd for a manual transmission pickup truck. Starters are starters. Carbs are a different thing when it comes to Coast Guard Approval

 

Hmmm... I had assumed they were but afterdoing research, I tend to agree. The truck starters are waterproof as well for obvious reasons; being waterproof, I dont see how a spark could get out.

I know the alternators are marine; they have a mesh insude the case. I had assumed there was some sort of correlating difference with the starter.

Its 1/2 off at pick n pull this weekend. That means $10 for a starter. Might grab two.

How are the truck starters wired? The one I have gets a ground wire bolted to the mount bolt and the hot wire to the post. Is it the same or similar setup as far as only having the two wires feeding it? If its different, what is involved in making it work?

 

The one wire starters were just that, one wire. Of course you also need a ground wire from the block to the battery to complete the circuit, the negative wire would also serve that purpose. The Ski boat I had, had an ordinary lookin alternator and a starter on it. That was on a Chevy 4.3 V6.

 

I was thinking it would be something like that.... If nothing else, run an extra ground to the terminal on the starter.

 

So the wife made me break down and buy the Mallory Marine Starter... The instructions say to hook the wires up exactly as they were. Problem is this is replacing the single post starter that only has one wire going to it. So... Can anyone advise what wires are supposed to go to these terminal? Not sure but this thing looks to have its own built in solenoid or something. I am guessing the bigger nut is for a hot wire... What goes to the smaller terminal?

This thing is smaller in overall size which is cool cause it is cramped in there. I like that.

 

This looks like a permanent magnet starter. The solenoid on the side is to engage the Bendix drive, which would have been done by the field coil of an electromagnetic starter.

My Aerostar uses something like this. The positive battery cable goes to the big lug, and the output of the starter relay goes to the small lug.

 

I am following you on the big one... Could you elaborate on the smaller terminal?

I am assuming I should leave the lower large terminal alone as its already hooked up?

 

On my Aerostar, the positive battery cable has two connections; one small one going to the input side of the starter relay stud, where it supplies power to a number of things in the engine compartment. The regular, heavy gauge cable goes to the empty large stud on the starter motor. A small wire runs from the output (switched) side of the starter relay to that small spade lug on the starter.

The way it works is that the starter key switch energizes the starter relay, which sends current through the small wire to the spade on the motor, which energizes the solenoid to pull the bendix gear and run the motor.

 

Cool. Sounds straight forward.

 

What gauge should battery and starter cables be?

 

I think I fried the new starter... Glad its got a warrantee.

I am trouble shooting a couple things that are going on at the same time... The previous owner had two batteries hooked up; I left it the same way but I am wondering if this is pushing too much power. The cables are getting really hot and bordering the melting point. I know I can crank my truck all day with no issues so I am trying to rule out a couple obvious things that could be contributing to my issues.

That being said, this motors being a pain in the *** to get started. Hopefully I will be able to resolve this.

 

Here is another thought I was having... Is there a chance I am having too much compression which is making it too hard for the starter to turn over quickly? I ask this because i will crank freely and easily without the plugs in but with it really struggles to turn over; the old starter had this same struggle.

If so, what can I do about it?

 

I would get the thickets battery cable from your local auto parts store that would reach from your battery to the starter; minimum 4 gauge, 2 gauge would be better. The other wire going from the switched side of the starter relay to the spade lug can be smaller, like 12 or 10 gauge.

I hope you do not try to run that starter on 24V, as it will not last long doing that.

If it has a hard time turning the engine, there could be a couple of things besides weak battery. Compression is one, and static timing advance is the other. You can try turning the distributor counter-clockwise a little to see it helps with the starting.