I learned a real valuable lesson yesterday and today and wanted to pass it on.

I was having slow and no starting on my '85 F150/300/NP435. The cables looked horrible and the starter was a no-name reman that the PO had put in (I've owned the truck for ~3 yrs).

I decided to go ahead and R&R everything - cables - solenoid - starter - battery and ordered all but the battery online (20% discount + free shipping) from advanceauto.com. I chose a new, not reman, Bosch brand starter and put it in yesterday morning. It started up fine in the driveway. I headed into town to do some errands and by the 3rd stop it was really sounding bad - like there were ball bearings or marbles rolling around in the back of the engine. I almost didn't get it started the last time, so headed home while I could.

I took it out last night and had a really bad feeling that I'd chewed up the flywheel ring gear. The starter would no longer engage, and when it did was only imprint of the front little bit. I pulled out the old starter and started looking at them side by side and noticed the snout on the new one was ~5/16" longer. It doesn't seem like it should make a difference, but I had to return the now broken new one so took the old one in too with a ruler.

Sure enough, the first reman they pulled off the shelf was also longer, but the next one was not, so I got that one. Came home, stabbed it in (first putting grease on the gear so could check engagement) and all is great again! It starts right up (I think cables were the main problem), full engagement, and no more marbles!

So, lesson learned. When/if you have to replace your starter on a 300, make sure to compare to the old one that the length is the same!

 

And there's a difference between auto and manual transmissions too!

 

I hadn't thought of that, but wonder if it's the diff here?? The parts guys these days don't know for sure, just what the computer says. No transmission asked when figuring out what fits what.

 

The auto's and manual starters have different snout length's on the starters. Did you specify yours was a manual transmission when you bought the starter?

You did learn a valuable lesson. Always compare your new parts to your old ones. That's one reason I usually just pay the core charge and keep my old parts( if buying reman'd ) .

 

The parts lookup didn't go beyond yr-make-model-engine, so no, man or auto trans was not specified.

Neither did the parts counter ask that; all the starters were "exact fit".

On keeping old parts - I actually had two of the old starters, so gave them one, and still have another. I think I will take that one to a local auto electric guy in town and have him rebuild it for a spare.

 

That's most likely the problem then. Your truck still has the block spacer plate in it right? You are lucky the counter person knew what a starter was!! Some of them are completely worthless.

I've screwed myself over so many times in the past with needing something off from the core or something being different. I decided it was cheaper in the long run to just keep my cores.

If you have a local shop that can rebuild them and they do good work. You are miles ahead having your old one rebuilt. The current reman'd ones suck. Quality control no longer exist with 95% of the parts store reman'd stuff. But sometimes the situation calls for a quick replacement. If I have to buy that crap I make sure it's got a good warranty. So when it needs to be replaced I'm not out even more money. My last Autozoo starter had to be taken back before I even got it installed!

 

Anticipate what you'll probably need going forward a couple years out and maintain your own bench stock for things like starters and alternators. No more Roulette that way. Generally the prices certainly aren't going down but the QC has. Rebuild kits for 3G alternators are less than 40 bucks and the components are better than what the remans are providing. Little bit of hassle now but will save on stress and blood pressure down the road.

 

DB Electrical sells very good starters at a very fair price. The newer, high-torque mini starters.

http://www.dbelectrical.com/c-1185-49-liter.aspx

 

Some yrs back I had a small Isuzu pickup - '92 model IIRC - and a little bit after I had it the starter went out. When I pulled it noticed the brand which was a rebuilt and sold at one of the discount auto parts stores. They had lifetime guarantee so I took it in and got another one. Long story short is I went through 2 more starters in the 3 yrs I owned the truck. All free, but jeesh - the quality of the rebuilds was crap for sure.

In that case it was not a misfit. They all went in there fine and worked great until they didn't.

On my 300, that was why I wanted to spend the extra $$ and get a new one this time. I was looking at new Ford, but they were like ~$250; I got the Bosch for $108. I think it would have been a good starter IF the fit was right, but they don't stock these so have to order from the warehouse. So now got a $60 reman, and I'll have the other one rebuilt as a spare. Both of the old ones I had were remans, so it was just pick one to turn in. No original starter in the lot.