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I have a 1989 Ford Ranger, 4 cyl 2.3l, purchased a couple months ago. Seemed to start OK when I picked it up, though on some starts there was some grinding/shaking and it took a little time to fire. This quickly went from intermittent to constant, got more severe (would shake the whole truck) then eventually blew up my starter pinion gear. Literally ripped all the teeth off. This all happened over about 15 starts. The flywheel looks worn but usable.
A coworker who previously owned the same year and model said these starters are notorious for having too much torque/over engaging (it is a huge starter for how tiny the truck is) and advised me to shim it. I tried backing it off little by little with very slim washers and it seemed to improve slightly with each shim, but it still seemed like it was over engaging. I got it closest to where I wanted it and got a few good starts but eventually it started doing the same shaking/grinding and eventually wore out the pinion gear again. More visible wear on the flywheel this time too.
The starter that was in it when I bought it was not shimmed. My first replacement was a BesTest reman, which even the folks at O'Reilly's said was prone to premature failure/defects. I swapped that out for an Ultima reman to see if I was lucky enough to just have two defective starters, and wouldn't you know it, it's doing the same thing. Worried I am going to destroy my flywheel but also wondering if it's the flywheel to blame. I have seen several threads with somewhat similar issues but nothing very definitive... Any thoughts or experiences with this?
It was many years ago when I had my 88' 2.3L & all my starting trouble was usually related to the relay on the inner fender on the passenger's side.
Yours doesn't sound like it is related to this but I had a few ideas.
Any starter may require shims depending on it's engagement but the shaking you describe would have me looking at the engine & trans mounts to see if they are torn.
These "shouldn't" affect the starter engaging, but could certainly cause a lot of shaking if 1 or more are bad.
Manual. Here is a picture of the flywheel -- didn't document the starter but should have. The pinion gear on the starter that was already in it was destroyed. The first starter I installed didn't blow up the same way but it wore the teeth down so bad it wasn't usable anymore. The wear was from about halfway up the base of the pinion gear to the top of it. I assume that's because I shimmed it and it wasn't engaging all the way.
It was many years ago when I had my 88' 2.3L & all my starting trouble was usually related to the relay on the inner fender on the passenger's side.
Yours doesn't sound like it is related to this but I had a few ideas.
Any starter may require shims depending on it's engagement but the shaking you describe would have me looking at the engine & trans mounts to see if they are torn.
These "shouldn't" affect the starter engaging, but could certainly cause a lot of shaking if 1 or more are bad.
The ring gear on that flywheel is prettty messed up. The force that shoots the gear in to the teeth is magnetic, from the solenoid on the side of the starter motor, not mechanical, and it relies partially on inertia. Edit - actually I might be wrong on this, I haven't studied how this starter works. Some use a lever from the solenoid, others use a Bendix mechanism.
A trick that might get you by would be to apply a small amount of high temperature grease on to the ring gear teeth. It might help the gears make full contact. I don't know why shims would help, you need more contact, not less. A strong battery will help also to get full current through the solenoid to drive the gear. Maybe your problems are getting worse as the battery gets weaker.
But really I think that you might need a new ring gear or flywheel. Good luck.
The ring gear on that flywheel is prettty messed up. The force that shoots the gear in to the teeth is magnetic, from the solenoid on the side of the starter motor, not mechanical, and it relies partially on inertia. Edit - actually I might be wrong on this, I haven't studied how this starter works. Some use a lever from the solenoid, others use a Bendix mechanism.
A trick that might get you by would be to apply a small amount of high temperature grease on to the ring gear teeth. It might help the gears make full contact. I don't know why shims would help, you need more contact, not less. A strong battery will help also to get full current through the solenoid to drive the gear. Maybe your problems are getting worse as the battery gets weaker.
But really I think that you might need a new ring gear or flywheel. Good luck.
That's really helpful info. Thank you so much! I am going to be working on it this weekend and will likely have followup.
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