I have a 2003 7.3 F 250 and broke an ear off my 2 bolt starter last week when the bottom bolt fell out. The bottom hole was stripped so I put a remanned high torque 3 bolt long starter back in it and was able to torque the stripped out bolt hole with a slightly longer bolt. What's the difference in these starters and why is a 3 bolt starter not listed for my truck? It bolted right in and man does it spin my engine good! Is there anything out there that I don't know about that I shouldn't have done this??

 

The 3 bolt starter is the older version that spins a bit slower. 2 bolt starters, OEM anyways, spin a bit faster. IIRC the changeover was late 2000. Either starter will bolt up and even a high end Denso starter only uses two bolts.

 

Since you were able to get the bottom bolt to at least thread, I would recommend some Blue Loc-Tite, just to be on the safe side. Steel only needs 5 threads to achieve Torque. But, you don't want it coming back out with a new starter installed in an aluminum casing.

 

As you've discovered, the hi-torque version of the Mitsubishi starters spin it over right-nice!

If I were ever in your situation, I would do the same thing you did, only intentionally!

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