Starter is free spinning
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Mountain Pass
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 197
Likes: 3
Starter is free spinning
At first starter didnt always disengage after starting, it would hiss until i nudged the key back to start once or twice with the engine already started... After about 6 months of it doing that intermittently it turned into a situation where i have to turn the key 5 or 6 times before the starter will engage with the flywheel. The starter just free spins. I assume the solenoid isn’t moving the starter to engage. Is their an easy fix for this or is a new starter the real fix i should be doing?
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,626
Likes: 78
From: NE Texas
Think of a starter as having a couple of main parts - the motor part and the bendix gear (as I recall) which is the gear at the end of the starter shaft which actually engages the flywheel ring gear. The starter has to spin, and that gear has to engage, for the engine to turn over. Usually people have problems with the starter motor not spinning due to rust, crud buildup, worn brushes, lack of battery juice, etc. because the gear end of it is pretty bulletproof. Gear, shaft, a spring... what could go wrong? But it has. Sounds like for some reason the gear is not engaging with the flywheel ring gear, so the starter spins free with no resistance. I would drop the starter and check that that gear slides on the starter shaft. Haven't looked at a Ford starter, but on the ones I have seen you can try to work lube under that gear to get it to slide more easily on the shaft. If that works, you're in good shape. If not, well, you're already half-way through the replacement.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 4,767
Likes: 3,379
From: South Central Utah
I went thru 2 rebuilds within just a few months.
I bought a new starter from rockauto.com for $100 and haven't had a problem since.
I bought a new starter from rockauto.com for $100 and haven't had a problem since.
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Hotshot
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 10,809
Likes: 2,606
From: The Shenandoah Valley
Thread says ""starter is free spinning" but if it works jumping the solenoid, it ain't so free spinning.
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From: Eagle River, AK
Cargo Master
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 2,587
Likes: 47
From: Eagle River, AK
I missed that part tbear. Hopefully he gets it figured out.
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