It's difficult to tell in the photo how much damage there is to the ring gear. Something has happened to some of the teeth. Changing it is another "substantial" job. If most of the tooth is still there for all of the teeth you can likely "get by" with it as it is assuming that the starter drive is working properly along with all else. If you decide to "get by", try to assure that the starter drive gear is fully engaging the ring gear.

 

Should be able to take the trans bottom insp plate off to get a wider view of the flywheel. Breaker bar and a socket and have a buddy carefully turn in a tightening direction on the crank pulley harmonic balancer bolt to turn the motor over. I think I remember that right.... No spark plugs make it way easier.

When you are ready to replace the valve cover gaskets, flat check ( 6" steel ruler) the underside where the bolts come thru. A lot of times that get over tightened and bent and that causes leaks.

 

Ozzie- The "new" starter I order is a rebuilt one. Originally, I was going to take the old starter in to get the core charge back, but after several recommendations I will save it for a rainy day to rebuild. As for the rear main seal leak, I have been told I could do it without pulling the engine, but it will be a tough job. Had a friend tell me since questions are arising with the ring gear I can replace it while I have the transmission disconnected for the main seal. Not sure how confident I am that I can get those two things replaced by myself. I guess time will tell. Thanks again for your insights.

Once I get a chance this week, I will locate and remove the inspection plate to get a better look at the ring gear. Really hoping poor lighting is making things look worse than they really are. (Wishful thinking, I know)

Thanks again for everyone's input. Much appreciated.

 

Well, I am back...with more questions. Put in the new starter (with 3 bolts like it is supposed to have). Connected up a new solenoid with new cables from solenoid to starter. battery to bolt behind the alternator and battery to solenoid. Turned the key and nothing. Thought maybe the battery had died so I tried to jump it off and still nothing. What should I check, change, replace now? I did not replace the two wires that plugged into the front posts on the solenoid but the looked as if they had little to no corrosion on them. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Is the start wire connected to the "S" post?

 

First, the solenoid needs to be grounded. Ground it to a nice, clean piece of fenderwell.
Do you have a BATT NEG cable grounding out the engine? It'd be a nice thing to do.
Those two wires that plug into the front posts on the solenoid - the BROWN wire goes to the "I" terminal on the solenoid, where the RED/b goes to the "S" terminal.
Has your fusible link been compromised? That goes to the BATT (+) side of the solenoid, too.

Do you have lights?

Run these checks and get back to us.....

 

Here is a pic of the how the new solenoid is hooked up. I put everything back exactly like it was on the original solenoid. I do not see ground. I do have lights, but they are dim. When I turn the key I do get a click/clunk noise from the solenoid and the dome light goes off. Headlight turn on very dim as well and they do make the dome light go off as well when I turn them on. Dead or nearly dead battery maybe?

How do I know which terminal is I or S?
And how can I check this fusible link to see if the problem lies with it?

Pic does not seem to be uploading correctly- looking straight on at the solenoid with the battery to the left and firewall to the right, plugged on the the left post is a red/blue wire and on the right is a black(maybe brown wire).

As for the missing ground on the solenoid, which side should it go on and what kind of wire cable should I use?

Sorry for all the questions. I have zero experience workings on cars/trucks. Trying to teach myself (with the help of you more experienced folks.)

 

Picture upload attempt again....hope this works

 

Try not to jump start unless there is no other choice. Make sure the battery is 100% thoroughly charged. An alternator will not do this and may be damaged trying to do so. It may take a charger several hours at a slow rate.

An inexpensive battery charger will save you money and aggravation and is one of the "must-have" tools for anyone that works on their own cars and trucks.

 

Ok...the 'I' solenoid terminal BROWN wire is on the right as you're looking at the picture...or, toward the BACK of the truck. The 'S' terminal RED/b (PINK dot) would be toward the FRONT of the truck.....you have them hooked up correctly.

The LEFT side of the solenoid - toward the front of the truck should be BATT (+), yes? It's too bad both your wires are black....could be confusing....generally, and for safety reasons, I like to see the POSITIVE cables RED...

The solenoid ground - I guess I wasn't clear - it gets grounded to the fenderwell - like you have it - but the metal BEHIND the cap screws should be clean...metal to metal - solenoid metal to fenderwell metal. Here, it appears there's paint or something behind the solenoid's mounting screws. Clean it to bare metal, remount the solenoid and it'll be happy with a nice clean ground.

The fusible link is generally an ORANGE color wire, from the harness to the BATT side of the solenoid....and would be having a connector (the fusible link) like the BLACK one in the picture. I believe in '74 they were in use...could be mistaken.

OK....now for the fun part - grab yerself a plastic handled screwdriver...a sizeable one, about a foot long. SMACK that stupid solenoid a coupla times with it.....Reason being, even "new" stuff can be junk and in this case, the inside contacts might be froze up during the Chineeseum fabrication process. Smacking the solenoid a few times might wake it up - and un-freeze the contacts.

 

But the dim headlights and the fact that the dome light goes out when you turn the headlights on tells me that a dead battery is very high on the suspect list right now.
Sure, it could be other things going on, but a very dead battery is the first thing I'd start working with.

Looks like the starter cable (right side of the relay) is showing it's age a bit. The rubber weather seal is pulling back from the cable and not really doing much anymore. It's a modest size cable too maybe. Could be a 4ga, which is fine. But if it turns out to be a 6ga then not as good as a larger one. A 6ga is still passable of course, when all else is well. And probably what Ford used originally.
Just that larger battery cables give you more leeway for when things start to go south and for example a slow starting engine takes more cranking, or when some connection deteriorates. Big battery cables are cheap insurance.
I always use 4ga as an absolute minimum anymore. And 2ga is my preference for trucks.

But that's just here and there talk. Check and charge the battery and see what you get.

Paul

 

Thanks again for all the suggestions, I will have the battery tested to see if that may be the issue. Just noticed the date code on it is Aug 2014 so it is good possibility its dead. I did have a new cable running from the running from the solenoid down to the starter but I was trying the old one again just to eliminate some of the new parts as being faulty. The new cable is labeled as 4 gauge. I will definitely consider doing the red cables for positive or at least labeling them in some way to help avoid an oops. Maybe wrap towards each end with some red tape of some sort. (I know, it would be ugly but for now just looking a functional vehicle not necessarily a good looking one).

As for the solenoid grounding point. Currently it is mounted directly to the inner fenderwell. Dirt and paint are the only thing in between.I will pull it back off, clean and get some bare metal exposed per suggestions from you guys. I did notice that the PO cranked down on one of the mounting screws and has stripped out the hole and in the fenderwell so that the screw just spins. Would an acceptable fix be to either use a slightly larger screw or to find a bolt/nut/washer to replace that screw?

 

The battery issue was addressed in post # 24...that's why I didn't mention it again.

A load test for the battery is a good idea....but what BATT voltage are you reading now...at the posts and at the terminals?
These days, a 4 year old battery is nearing the end of its life cycle, sorry to say. Cheap junk!

The one semi-stripped solenoid screw - it's always good to have a complete, solid, clean ground connection on electrical parts. You could do worse than put a new bolt, washer and nut on the thing. Drill both holes out for a slightly larger hole and have at it!

Let us know what you come up with on the battery.

 

Just be sure it's a clean connection either way.

 

Or it's just "dead" as in discharged. If you don't have a charger then maybe the they'll charge it for you to test. It has to be fully charged for testing anyway, so that's probably part of the service.
Do you have a volt-meter? Did you check the state of charge?

Excellent. And a good idea to verify those aspects of the old one.

Red tape is a start. But an even better solution, especially for that old one with the exposed contact point is heavy duty shrink tubing with sealant. Good stuff and a good idea for any battery cable frankly.
I actually like the store bought full crimp type like you have coming from the battery. The lugs could be improved, but it's hard to beat their crimp method. However, I always put some form of shrink tubing on the ends with the crimp. Slide one over that's just big enough, shrink it down and not only to you have a good connection, but now you have one that will stay good and resist corrosion for even longer.

Probably 70% of our trucks have that issue. Not sure if it's PO aggressiveness necessarily, or just the nature of the beast. Thin sheet metal, even with nicely stamped holes, is not always the longest lived thread method.
A larger screw is great if it works. I've had good luck, and some not so good luck doing that. But it's easier for future maintenance than a nut-n-bolt setup. However, if the larger screw won't hold, the nut-n-bolt is a winner.

Paul