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need to buy a starter for my truck. been to advance, autozone, napa, and even the dealer. none have a starter that will fit. the one i tried will not go into the hole in the bellhousing. the nose cone is too long and the diameter of the gear is larger. this truck is a quigley 4x4 conversion, so it is hard to say what they might have changed. the man at napa looked in an old parts book and thinks he has found the right one, but he is only 85% sure. i sure could use some help from the experts here.
when i replaced my starter i was asked if i wanted the gear reduction unit. of course i did and believe it or not the nose cone is a lot shorter and it was easier to install then it was to remove. I dont remember though what year it may have been looked up for.
so you are saying there is no difference between the 6.9 and 7.3 bellhousing and flywheel as far as being interchangable. i did not try to force the new starter too much, afraid they would not let me return it if i scuffed it all up
I found a Nippondenso starter that looks close to the original Mitsubishi starter on my 6.9. The only difference was the motor on the Mitsubishi was boxy like the gear drive is on this one.
This is what the Mitbubishi I am running now looks like.
Sorry the logo chops off part of the top of the picture.
The top starter was almost impossible to get the top bolt in and out of.
I cut a wrench off so it would clear the frame just for that bolt.
The bottom starter is easy, you can use a rachet to do the top bolt.
But the starter is so long that cross member clearance when installing or removing the starter is almost as bad as the top bolt was on the original starter.
I guess that having a starter that you can get to the bolts and have cross member clearance at the same time is asking to much.
As an afterthought, the wiring is much harder to get to on the bottom starter as well.
Last edited by Dave Sponaugle; Jul 1, 2007 at 01:17 PM.
that bottom starter is the one I replaced about 3 or 4 months ago on my truck got it from checker it kinda fell out after removeing bolts and like dave said a little twisting and turning it goes right back in
thanks for the info, Dave. I went back and got another Mitsubishi starter and tried again. Had to thump it with a block of wood past the crossmember and it fell right into place. I am so thankful for this forum, it has been a blessing.