My original starter lasted for a long long time. The previous owner had it and then it lasted me for 2 good years. It is a motorcraft so I would guess that it is the original one. Anyway, when it finally gave up, I bought an O'Riley reman one. Lasted for about 6 months, replaced it with another O'Riley which lasted three days !!, replaced with another O'Riley (lifetime warranty you know!) that lasted for couple months, then another that lasted for a month ! The last one broke down when I was out of town on a Sunday. Fortunately, I found an Autozone and bought a starter from them (again, lifetime warranty - my foot!). The damn thing lasted just enough to get me home !! The next morning it quit ! I have not taken it out to get it tested. I hear the starter spin, but does not engage.
The starter relay has been changed twice and the battery cables are brand spanking new.
I am now getting worried if there is some kind of allignment problem or if the bolts are not holding the starter tight. The one before autozone, I noticed the bolts came loose on me. But even after tightening the bolts, the old one will not engage. But when I put the autozone one in, it engaged right on for it to quit again the next morning.
Problems with my truck is pilling up and it is getting to me !! Cold outside and I got this big project with my motorcycle going on ! Any help will be appreciated as I want to get the truck back on the road.

 

What are the "Stamped on case" Ford numbers on that starter ?

Std or Auto trans ?

 

Automatic transmission. Are you talking about the original starter or the Autozone one that just quit? I do not have the original one anymore. But I can get you the numbers from the Autozone one.

 

Every rebuilt starter should have the original ford number stamped on it.

I would like to know that number


The Motorcraft service starter number is SA-734B

 

dennis you asked if it was auto or manual... does this make a difference?... i've brought this up before i think... long story short.. swapped in a np435 from a c6 behind a 351M... had starting issues since.... in another truck i put a 460 in with a np435 and it has a spacer plate... works fine... should i have this spacer plate between the 351M and 4spd?... when buying starters i don't recall being asked if it was a stick or auto... thanks for the input.

 

I got into the same thing with lifetime warranty starters. The original on my 77 went out. Went to Autozone for a lifetime warranty starter. It lasted a couple of years. Got the free replacement, it lasted a couple of years. Got another free replacement, lasted six months. Long story short, after replacing 5 starters, I figured out that the lifetime warranty sounds good, but Autozone isn't under the truck bolting that heavy starter in every six months.

You may have an alignment problem, but it could very well be those starters. The last time my starter went out, I just went to NAPA and paid more for what should be a better reman unit. So far so good.

 

The problem with the reman starter is the quality of the replacement parts. I bought a few from Autozone that crapped out on me. I decided to stop crawling under my truck so much and bought the rebuild kit through napa. Nice thing is I haven't had to change that starter in 4 years now. So remember they may carry them are a some what reduced price but remember you paying for them to rebuild it while you remove and install it.

 

I presumed from your sig it was a 302 not a 351M
Motorcraft service starter
77-81 351M- ALL - SA-701B

OEM number
D5AF-11001-EA
D8AF-11001-AA
E1TF-11001-BA

 

Dennis, haven't got a chance to get down and remove the starter. There is still few inches of snow outside and so can't even push the truck inside the garage. Hopefully, it will melt soon and I can get an answer.

 

If the starter P/N checks out and you don't have a spacer issue, one more thing to consider is a leaky rear seal on the engine. Sometimes if the rear seal is leaking the bendix can get gunked up with oil and dirt and the starter won't engage - esp. in cold weather when the oil can get really sticky.

 

I think I do have a rear seal leak that I am planing to fix this summer. But will it do that over night? Although, I am yet to check if the starter itself is toast. Damn the snow - seems like we will get more this weekend ...sheesh.......

 

I never had luck with the shamrock guys or the zoned guys with rebuilds. Starters or alts. Had good luck with Napa and A local rebuild shop. Sooner or later you'll get one to last .

 

I've had friends who've bought autozone, pepboys, o'riley's lifetime warranty starters and they've all had problems with them. My best friend kept calling me every six months because his starter kept going out. I got so sick of pull starting his damn truck at all hours of the night and day!! lol
Airharley was right, you're paying for them to remanufacture it and you to do all the labor. Same with their alternators.

The only store I would even trust to buy a lifetime warranty part from would be Napa. And even then i'd be skeptical.

 

I'm just going to try to apply a little logic here. It seems that you have been through an awful lot of starters. I know the quality of rebuilt starters isn't that great but I have a hard time believing that you have got that many faulty ones in a row. Something is killing them. My guess is you are somehow getting to much juice to them and frying them.....or you aren't getting enough and that is killing them. Have you changed your starter selonoid (Sorry....I could never spell that), battery or alternator?? Any chance you are dripping oil right into the starters?? I'm just trying to track it down with you.... See if you can pull the motor over by hand. Does it feel stiffer than normal?? Have you noticed a reduction in gas mileage?? Like I said.....I don't think it is the starters at this point. O.K... Who is next??

Thanks,
Chris
www.MrScharfenberger.com/F100

 

Well; if the starter is spinning, but not engaging either the spacing from the starter to the gear is wrong, or the Bendix is not working correctly. If starter engaged before and cranked without grinding noises, It may be more likely a bendix problem which could be either a defective bendix or cold sticky oil on the shaft causing the bendix to hang. If you pull it and it works on the bench, ie nice and warm, try cleaning the bendix with some brake clean and reinstall. If it does not work on the bench see if you can see why it's hanging up. If the cleanup works for a while after you reinstall it, you might just have to fix the rear seal.