Starter grinds; doesn't turn engine
 

Hi folks,

I've got a 4x4 F150 with the 4.9 I6. Recently, the starter has begun grinding against the flywheel instead of turning the engine. I know it's mostly okay because every once in a blue moon I can get it to start if I turn the engine enough by hand.

The starter is an autozone one that I have almost no faith in, but both it and another autozone one do the same thing.

I looked at the ring gear, and the teeth don't look messed up. Here are a couple pictures:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...65b6d28c90.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...715b1939ef.jpg

Do you think the ring gear needs replacing? If so, how hard is that to do? The Chilton manual says to remove the transmission, which sounds involved.

the engine will usually stop in one of two positions ... it is in those two positions that you will see wear on the ring gear. have you checked the entire circumference ?
what a lot of people think is "not too bad" is actually advanced wear on the teeth. the fact that you can turn the engine then get it to start suggests that the ring gear is bad.

There are two starters, one for manual trans and one for auto trans. Parts stores do not seem to realize this... you may have the wrong one. The difference is the snout is longer *I think* the auto trans one.

i believe you have a manual transmission, which is a little simpler than removing an automatic. it's really just basic wrenching. you will need a clutch alignment tool for re-assembly (cheap and easy to use). if you determine that the ring gear is damaged, and decide to do the work yourself, this is an excellent time to replace your clutch disc, pressure plate and release bearing.

x2 ... i was jumping ahead, but dixie is right, make 100% sure that you are getting the right starter. parts guys (in some cases) aren't what they used to be.

Well, I went by O'Reilly and got another starter from them and made sure it was a short-throw one this time. Got home and compared against what I have in the truck, and they're both the same style.

I guess I'm going to have to get a ring gear for it.

Thanks!

Well, got the wife to start it for me while I watched; turns out the starter solenoid on the fender is buzzing. I could have sworn it sounded like grinding gears.

Battery is pretty new and well-charged, so I suppose it's an electrical connection issue?

Could be a faulty solenoid but could be the quality of the battery no longer generating enough current or could be a bad ground.The power of any battery is determined buy the quality of your ground just remember the Green Mile.They couldn't cook the one guy without the water to complete the grounding process even with all the volts/amperage coming in to the house.I use 2 gauge cable for my grounds.

Where do you get your cable from? I went out and poked it with a voltmeter and I suspect the cable from the solenoid to the starter.

I did hook a jumper cable from the bottom bolt on the starter to the battery ground and that didn't fix it, so I suspect it isn't a ground problem.

Any parts house will have them.Just remember think about the battery and it's power/amperage if it's all there?Take the battery out when you go get the cable and have it load tested.If a battery drops to far under a load(like 5V) then even with good 2 gauge cables may not crank unless the host battery is serious battery

Hmm, okay, I'll bring it in for a test. It is less than a year old and a quality battery, but who knows.

I put jumper cables from the lower bolt on the starter to the battery ground and another from the positive terminal on the starter to the positive battery terminal and got nothing but sparks. So, at this point, the battery is about the only unknown left in the equation.

Batteries across the board are not what they use to be as far as quality goes and I say that now go and try to find an eight year battery anymore? I had an eight year come in last month that was 10years old but the industry offers 1-5 years now don't know.The technology is out there but every thing seems to be in the recycle state these days and not quality.Kevin

If this is one of those generations of truck where they run the full current of the starter motor through the relay (that's a RELAY on the fender; the solenoid is on, or part of, the starter), that's your problem. Ford ditched that god-awful design in the mid-'80s with the diesels and should have done it with the gassers, and much sooner. The relay should only energize the solenoid ON the starter. IIRC, you have to get a starter with two separate terminals, one for the solenoid and one for the main motor. Then get a battery positive cable with two wires coming out of the terminal; one big wire that goes down to the starter motor, and the other not-as-big wire that goes to the fender relay.

Any luck on this guy yet?

Yeah, I redid the ground and she seems happy now. I'll probably add a few extra grounds just to be safe.

What battery terminals do you all use? The original ones got pretty corroded for me and I replaced them with aftermarket ones, but I'm not sure they're that good.