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5 starters in 2 years

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Old Sep 18, 2009 | 09:06 PM
  #1  
01FordCrew's Avatar
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Red face 5 starters in 2 years

I think I've started a new unit of measure, kind of like Miles per gallon. It's called Starters per year!
My truck seems to be hard on starters. The first starter I had which came with the truck when I purchased it began draging so I replaced it. The 2nd had a dead short in the starter. Another one the solanoid clicked but no engagement. Yet another one the starter gear quit engaging the ring gear. After all that I went from a high torque style starter to the pre 2000 style starter. This one seemed to last me the longest but now it too doesn't want to consistantly engage the ring gear. We checked the ring gear the last time and it seemed fine. I looked into the Technical service buletin regarding frequent starter failure but my truck doesn't seem to exhibit the symptoms of the starter running on after starting. Are Starters on these trucks known for this problem or is this specific to my truck, or the brand of starter? thankfully the starters never last long enough to go off warrantee so I have only had to dish out once.

Any ideas what is going on or what I should do about it?
 
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Old Sep 18, 2009 | 09:24 PM
  #2  
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I don't think they known for failure in these trucks. My original starter lasted me 220K, when it quit it showed no signs just did nothing. I replaced it with one from Carquest Auto Parts which was my only option when it happened. It has seemed to be a good starter a lot faster when turning over.
 
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Old Sep 18, 2009 | 09:33 PM
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Thats extreme

mine has 260,000 kilometers,

I cant remember how many times it was so cold, and I cranked it for so long just thinking "Man, this poor poor starter is taking a ***** kicking right now"

and its still going strong....

and its really rough weather up here, really hard on the starter....
 
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Old Sep 19, 2009 | 01:38 AM
  #4  
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Damn, I thought I was bad, 3 starters the past 2 years. They work great but then fail shortly after winter usually, too much dually drifting in the snow I guess. Lifetime warranties FTW!
 
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Old Sep 19, 2009 | 02:31 AM
  #5  
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I hope you're not paying for a new one each time. With the way yours eats em, I'd find one with a lifetime warranty. I put one from autozone in. It lasted 6 months and crapped out. Got a free replacement and that ones still kicking 2 years later (knock on wood)

Are you getting the same brand of starter each time?
 
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Old Sep 19, 2009 | 10:53 AM
  #6  
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My uncles 01 7.3 has been through about 5 starters too and they have been Carquest. They work for about 6 months and then the truck starts to crank really long for about 10-15 seconds. I'm not sure if its the carquest starters or the truck.
 
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Old Sep 19, 2009 | 01:31 PM
  #7  
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Well, the starter is out. I looked at the ring gear again... not sure if it's because I waited to change the starter but it looks like I need a new ring gear too. How long to pull the engine and put it back in? If I do pull the engine maybe I'll change my engine bearings(close to 500,000 km). GROAN!
 
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Old Sep 19, 2009 | 01:37 PM
  #8  
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I just dropped the tranny to replace mine, took about 2 hours with a harbor freight tranny jack (the big one, lol), and I'm 4x4 and didn't know what I was doing. Much easier than pulling the engine, which I hear the easiest way is to pull the cab off. I've seen it done without, but looked like a pain in the ***.
 
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