'75 F-250, 390, 4-spd, 4x4. She eats a starter about every dozen starts. The parts store is getting tired of seeing me, saying I'm doing something wrong and want to deny warrantys. Does the starter need to be shimmed? I've only heard of that needing to be done on 289 Cougars. I've had Fords with 390s for decades and this is the only one that's ever done this. Any help appreciated. BTW, HI! from the newby from Colorado. Lots of nice old un-rusted trucks out here.

 

Eating starters? There is probable not enough iron in its diet. Trying feeding it some Chevys and see if that helps.....

 

Is the Flywheel O.K.

Did they give you the right starter for that truck? I would have them double check.

Want to load up a few late 70's 4x4's and bring them to Ct. for me!

 

There are some aftermarket starters out there touted
as super starters..and they are..they use a super
magnetic material developed I think by GMC in
the 90's. They are lightweight and powerful and
that is the problem..to powerful. They do not
bendix out and spin..they just come spinning out
like a mad dog and some applications will eat teeth.

Also make sure your matching correct teeth profile
and numbers of teeth.

Hope this helps!

 

Welcome to the forum Colorado. I think it's pretty wild that you're the first one to try the state's name for a screen name.

I've never seen shims on an FE starter.

I'm curious about the damage to the new starters. Is it limited to the starter gear, or is it chewing up the over run clutch? Is the nose (end housing) damaged? I've seen some pretty strange things with "new" starters: Shaved/broken nose housings, spacers that were not on the old starter drive, slightly different length nose castings. I make it a point to keep the core till the new part is proven good.

I was in your shoes once: third starter, the "not my problem" from the parts house. While leaving work the clutch pedal went to the floor and stayed there, the clutch never released. Subsequent inspection showed that the bell housing was seperating from the engine. Since the starter bolts to the bell housing, the over run clutch was being sucked into the flywheel. Chalk one up for the parts guy!

Mike

 

This reminds me of a problem I had with a Ch@vy S10 4cyl. That truck ate starters, too. And it would break one of the bolts that holds the starter to the block.

The parts store would sell me a starter and pretty soon it would fail. On my fourth starter, I got suspicious. I went to the Ch@vy dealer and bought an off-the-shelf new starter for $135. Ouch. Except that fixed the problem.

Turns out that the S10 starters have the same 'nose' as most other Chevy starters, so the parts stores just substitute a regular starter for the S10 starter. Problem is the regular starter is too long. It hits the crossmember when the engine rocks in its motor mounts when you're driving, that breaks the bolt. Then, when you go to start the truck later on, the starter binds 'cause it's crooked, and burns out.

The starter from the Ch@vy dealer was a shortie that cleared the crossmember (and was a whole lot easier to install). End of problem; no more broken bolts, no more burned out starters.

 

PCmenten is on to something here. I've seen two different nose styles for the aftermaket FE starters. I'm not sure of Ford did them this way but the aftermarket did to make it a multiple use item on stock applications. If you have your original Ford starter that can be rebuilt and is much better than the recon's. How did the first starter go and has it been just the replacements that have been getting munched?

 

Thanks for the help, gentlemen. To answer some of your questions:
Yes, the flywheel is bad too. I have a brand new one NOS straight from FoMoCo. I just brought the truck home from storage yesterday and it is now my current project. It's a good thing it's tall, I can sit under it to yank the starter, etc. I don't have the original starter for comparison. The truck has a rebuilt engine with about 50k on it. Damage to the starters has been a mix. One had a flattened tip and bushing on the cone. One burned up. Most of the rest had some kind of damage to the Bendix ***'y. Chewed up teeth, snapped "ear", broken spring. All usually ended up draining the battery (a 27MF'er, brand new, high amp). I had always thought that Ford truck starters of this era were pretty generic, one size fits all. This project will be all new correct replacements from FoMoCo. Expensive, but I'm tired of fighting with it. I'll make sure the teeth profile and numbers match this time.
It's really true about the un-rusted vehicles out here. Low humidity, no salt on the roads. I've brought back parts to my brother in Chicago. It's a heartbreaker to see all the unrusted fenders, doors, cabs, beds, and tailgates going to the crusher. When I bought a tailgate for this truck (she didn't come with one when I bought her) I got to pick from a stack of over 50. Actually got one, correct year and color, $40. You might want to consider coming out with your trailer and loading up. My brother has already done that for Olds Cutlass 442 parts.
I'll keep you informed of my progress throughout this project. I need to finish it before we get our snow season this spring. Next project, an '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe, bad struts, new clutch, and stripped exhaust donut studs. What Fun!! Colorado