Here's the scoop. I partially rebuilt a 76' 360; i took the heads off and threw on new gaskets and found that it had been recently rebuilt by the previous owner(newer blue gaskets). i just transplanted the engine into its new home and went to turn it over, without the intent of starting it, and !GRIND!.... OK, i took the starter motor out and found that one of the two ears on the throwout piece had snapped. I replaced that. I threw it back on. The previous owner had just put a new starter onto it before he sold me the engine. The thing was shiny new and still had the barcode from where he bought it.

So, i put it on and bolted it back into place, hooked up the solenoid and ground, and cranked it !GRIND!.... When i put the new throwout kit onto it, i made sure by pushing the external lever, the throwout was working. I could turn the motor by my finger so i know it was not lodged. I also checked the flywheel teeth, they were obviously grinding away. What could it be??? I had the starter totally disassembled and it is back together correctly. A friend mechanic suggested something about shims.?? Could this be the reason?? How do i shim it??? I do not want to pull the engine to change flywheels, the one on it is decent, but wearing fast at this rate!! Any advice, no matter how far fetched will be considered. Also, the engine does rotate easily with a wrench on the harmonic balancer. It also rotated slowly when the starter was grinding away. HELP!!

 

I found a shim on my starter in my 74 with FE engine (same as yours). I removed the shim when I did a transmission job, and never replaced it. I never had any trouble with it. Does your flywheel (flexplate) feel tight in place? I would just bench test your starter by clamping it in a vice (or stepping on it) and supplying it with power to see exactly what it is doing. If all looks normal, bendix kicks out and all that, report back here.
Mark


https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/displaythumbnail.php?&photoid=5362&.jpg
Ford started it; Ford will finish it!

 

DAMMIT!! OK, the starter is still grinding away at the flywheel. I am totally stumped on this one. I tried everything. I tried washers as shims, up to a quarter inch. I took the starter out and bench tested it, everything is fine. What could it be?? It is worthy to note that the flywheel doesn't shimmy around and there are not spiral marks on the bendix indicating it rubbing against the flywheel. It is simply skipping teeth. The flywheel is in decent shape but getting worse by the day.

TOday i tried a new idea. I took that cover off of the throwout rod and pushed it in, simulating the start, and engaged the teeth into the flywheel. I could not rotate the crankshaft with the starter engaged. I take the starter back out, and can turn it all day long with my thumb. Same with the crankshaft. It turns smoother than a new engine. I figured since the starter turns the engine, why can't the engine turn the starter? I even lossened the starter bolts and when playing around with it, barely could find a way to let the teeth mesh. I am really getting pist at this engine, and nobody i call seems to have an answer except "you might try replacing the flywheel". I just set the new engine/tranny into its new home and am not about to pull the damn thing again to replace a flywheel. WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?

 

Just a thought but ....... are you sure it is the right starter???? I think that each engine family has its own starter and that there is a difference between a manual tranny starter and an auto tranny one.
Maybe you have the wrong one????

Sparky

 

You may have checked this already, but does the pitch appear to be the same for the flywheel and the starter?...kinda back to sparky's question...sure you got the right starter?

 

........good point, i never thought to look into that. I just assumed one fit all. The guy at napa told me it was the right flange pattern but never asked me about auto or manual....good point. i will look into that tomorrow morning. joe

 

Starter problem update. I just got off the phone with autozone and the salesperson did inform me that there are like 4 different starters for the ford engines. He said one for the 302, one for the 360,manual,auto, and a diff one for the 390. Hopefully i have the wrong one and will be allowed to solve my probs w/o tearing into the engine. Thanks for all your help!!

 

The 302 has one for automatics, different one for manuals.