I have a post in the big bronco forum about my 351W C-6. It has been viewed several times and no reply. It is way to long to retype and I don't know how to move it to here, nor if this is where it needs to be. Is this something that the powers that be need to move for me? I am desperate to fix this. Would someone move it here for me or go read the post? I know there is someone here who has the answer, this can't be the first time for this problem. Thank you in advance for the help, I am out of ideas.

 

I tried to find you're post on you're starter, but didn't have any luck.
What is the problem with the starter? Sounds like you're at wit's end, try posting it here.
This is a good bunch of guys.
Bob

 

Cut and paste it in here.

 

Buddy I'm actually wondering if it is the right flexplate/flywheel.
It wouldn't take much to be off enough to go through a few starters, then the starters start wearing down the teeth on the flywheel.
Do the bell housing and block look like they're lined up propperly?
Bob

 

86 Eddie Bauer Bronco 351W 4bbl C-6 for sure-numbers verified. Seller of truck told me that the bell housing had been broken off of the tranny and rewelded. He drove the truck for approx. 6 mo. before parking it, and said it ate 3 or four starters. When I went to get the truck I took a starter with me-brand new. It got colder, darker, and I said screw it I'll bring it home on the lowboy. Crawled under today and dropped the new starter back out as it sounds horrible bad. By the way, the starter I took out of it to return for core, the gear on the bendix had about half of it missing, and I don't mean stripped teeth- it was broke! The starter still looked ok, just some metal shavings in the cone. Put it back in and tried to start it again for a few minutes. Now it will not spin the motor over and sounds really bad!!!! I expect to pull it out and it will look like the core I returned. I pull it out and it is apparently meshing pefectly square right where it should, because every tooth has approx. a fingernail thickness shaved off in just the perfect spot. Checked the flexplate-looks new, and seller told me it had been replaced. Went to advanced auto and laid a 351W and a 302 flexplate back to back-no difference. Double and triple checked that I have the right starter. I can clearly see on my transmission the weld where it was repaired. Called another friend at an auto electric shop thinking maybe I might get a slightly bigger dia. bendix gear. No such luck. How can the bell housing weld job be off this far and the tranny still function correctly? I know that the torque converter has forward and backwards play, but this would not be forward and backward problem for the starter. It's in the right spot perfectly, just sitting what about 5/16 too far away from the block. SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!!!!!! I am not retarded when it comes working on this era of truck, look at my sig, been there done that. Thanks in advance to all. Hey Khemicalburns, You ever heard of anything like this? I was thinking of oblonging the ears on the starter, then filling the voids with JB Weld. Any ideas anyone? Sorry for the long post, I was trying to paint a complete picture-and avoid 1000 questions.

 

On the other post, Arctic Y block made a good point. He inquired about the indexing plate. Yes it is there, and regardless of the tranny position, it should hold it in the correct spot. I really do not want to drop this tranny, it is so much easier to drop my 3 and 4 speeds! With this starter only needing about 1/4 to 5/16, it sure seems like so much work to gain so little!!!

 

im am having similar problem after replacing motor, will start a few tomes and then not, sounds really bad trin to turn over returned starter to parts store they said nothing was wrong with it.
took it to remanufacturer and they showed me gear drive was bad (starter energizes but when engaged clutch? in gear drive slips and motor doesnt turn over) replace gear drive and starter works for a hile then goes bad again.
cant figure it out sounds like alignment but icant find how to coreeect if it is. i need help too.

 

Got mine solved-almost. Look at your bendix gear, (inside the starter's nose cone) and see how even the wear marks are. You can slightly shim it with washers. On mine, one washer between the starter and the top bolt hole seemed to quiet it down some. Biggest prob w/ mine is the fact that the bell housing has been welded. I can't see how they could have done a better repair job. Nobody is absolutely perfect. Anyway, grab a thin washer and see if it will quiet down and quit eating starters. Let us know!

 

first 2/3's of teeth about thickness of flex plate are slightly worn
also a little over 1/2 way down the face of the tooth.

have bought 2 flywheels 1st we thought we might have bent it when we tightened tranny and torque was not seated correctly.
2nd was going to replace tranny im wondering if it was wrong???
stupid thought. any way got it out and was looking at flex plate and the strip between 3 oblong holes was bent slightly, so rather than take the chance got another.
all 3 are the same with 164 teeth.
the starter has 9 teeth.
I saw in another thread there are different numbers of teeth on starters 9 and 10.
Is it possible i have the wrong starter, i need 1 with 10 teeth?
and why would parts stores only list 1 starter?

 

sorry i have a 1986 F150 w/I6 300 and C6 tranny.
i noticed 2 things on teeth
1) distance worn is just over thickness of flex plate (seemed ok).
2) worn only just over 1/2 way down face (not deep enough?),
why i asked about 10 tooth starter.

 

I would think that 1/2 the depth of the teeth would do allright, that's what I had. It still has a slight grind noise to it but seems to be okay. Are the wear marks square in relation to the gear itself? If not, have you tried the washer trick yet? Lemme know

 

Found a 10 tooth starter drive (bendix) and replaced the 9 tooth, AND IT SOUNDS GREAT.
havent gotten it started yet ignition issue at moment will start new thread when i get enough info.
but i believe, no doubt at this point, that i have starter issue resolved thanks E1
1/2" depth was not quite enough, teeth were slipping because of decreased diameter of 9 tooth bendix, that may change after i get truck started though, i hope not.

9 tooth is 1.000" dia
10 tooth is 1.090".

Thanks again all

 

I need someone to point me in the right direction to purchase one of these 10 tooth units. My parts man is pretty good, but he doesn't know where to get one. I called a guy at a starter shop and he doesn't know. Thanks.

 

Bump for another with starter questions. By the way, I am still wanting to find where I can pick up a couple of those 10 tooth bendix gears!

 

So I think my index plate is in place....that's the thin metal plate that surrounds the starter and goes up and is sandwiched between the tranny & block right ? The inspection plate, however, is gone. What was passed on to me was that the Bronco ( 86 full size, 351w , C6 ) had gone through three starters, but that they all sounded bad from the beginning. When I got it, it sounded pretty bad too, and within 3 weeks it wasn't contacting the flywheel sufficiently. All three came from the same manufacturer and retailer ( General Store, Spokane, Wa. ) I picked up a rebuilt Autolite from Schucks and put it in and it seemed fine after that. That was about a week ago, and now it seems like it's getting noisier again. I did note that the index plate was a little bent. It looks like someone started cranking down the starter bolts when the starter wasn't seated. When I pulled the old starter out, I noted that the teeth had been worn down about a 32nd of an inch, and it had only been in for about 4 months total. I haven't checked my new one yet to see how it's wearing. I do get the feeling that it would benefit from the starter being closer to the flywheel by a fraction.

-Scott