OK, first post you guys.

I have a 1980 stepside F100 with a 5.0 V8 302.
When I turn the engine over, the starter is not disengaging the flexplate.
I replaced the ignition switch and fender mounted ignition relay.
Same problem.
I pulled the starter and found that the nose has been ground all the way down to the starter rod. Presumably by the flexplate.
My question is why? I have two ideas of my own.

1) Because the nose was worn down at an angle instead of straight across, I thought that maybe the flexplate is warped.
However, I don't want to drop the transmission to check. Is there some way I can do this without dropping it.

2) I just recently bought this truck and it said it had a brand new starter put on it. So either this is a recurring problem, or alternativley they may have put a starter for a standard transmission on the truck, which is an automatic. I hear that the starter for a standard transmission does not engage as deep. Does this mean the starter is shorter, thus allowing the nose casing to contact the flexplate?

Thanks for your help.

Leland

 

You can "bar" the engine over with a socket on the front damper pully. Have a big ratchet and someone rotating the engine while you watch the flex plate. Also take the spark plugs out so the engine will not have compression when you rotate it.


Did the engine ever start and if it did was there a grinding noise from the starter area? One possablity is you have the wrong starter motor, On Fords 300 and 302/351 there are two startermotors, one for automatic and other for manual. They will not swap! I can't rember which one will grind up from the flywheel/flexplate hitting it.


Another thing is a bent bellhousing, my friend's 82 F150 ate up starters like crazy till we found the bellhousing cracked!! Also Ford's DO NOT use shims on the starters.

 

I am wondering if it ever started also. I have seen people put the flexplate on, and forget about the drain plug in the torque convertor. It bends the flexplate and that really gives the starter a hard time. You can tell if it's bent because if you get it started, crawl under and look and you can see the flexplate wobbling with the inspection cover off.

 

The flywheel shouldnt be able to grind the area of the starter you described. (If I'm understanding your OP correctly) MAYBE the po ground the nose off the wrong starter to make it fit.

 

lharriger,

Welcome to the forum!

If, indeed, the starter is new, as stated buy the previous owner, see if identification numbers are readily visible. If so, try calling a parts store with the numbers and see if they can tell you what application it is for. On the other hand, since you have removed the starter to see the worn area, take the starter to the parts store and see if it can be identified.

 

Yes, the engine would start. When I first bought it, it fired up fine, in fact I fired it up about a dozen times just fine. However, later that same day the problem showed up. (After the truck had already broken down for a seperate reason.)
When it started though, the starter would remain both engaged and running even if I removed the key and the small signal wire to the solenoid. When the engine started, there was never any grinding noise, it just sound like the engine had to fight really hard to turn over and you could hear the starter running simultanously. After about 45 seconds the truck would come to a slow and painful stop, then a bit later the starter would stop. I first replaced the starter relay. Same problem. I then replace the starter switch. Same problem. I then replace the starter relay again thinking that maybe the bad switch had burned out the new relay somehow. Magic. It worked. The problem remained gone for about a month. The truck was never driven because I still needed to fix the original problem but my wife fired it up in the driveway daily. However, now it is getting stuck again.

When I saw the starter was worn on the nose I got a new one and turned the old one in as a core. I meant to compare the two starters before turning it in but forgot while talking to the guy at Autozone. Bad move on my part. I havn't put the new starter on yet because I was hoping I could find out what wore the original starter away first.

I doubt that the orginal problem had anything to do with the starter acting up. I am thinking it is just a loose rock arm. However, I will start a seperate post on it. Maybe they are related and I just don't see how. I know very little about vehicle and bought this one to learn on and restore.