Expert: Dusty Granata - 7/15/2009

Question
QUESTION: my 83 bronco has some serious starter grinding problems, i put a new starter in only 1 week ago and it will not start the truck now !
it sounds like the grinding will break something when in use ..........any ideas /?

ANSWER: check how may teeth were on the old starter and compare the tooth count to the new one. sounds like you have one with the wrong tooth set in it, or it was installed wrong.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i did put a ford spacer between the starter and the mount....it worked for about 1 day and failed & started to make grinding noise again..... it sounds like the starter hits the flywheel and stops there ......and spins with a high pitched noise......when it does engage it makes noise ?...........i`ll be damned if i know.......

Answer
if the starter Bendix is hitting the flywheel it is engaging WAY to far, take the starter out and look inside with a flashlight, check if there is any debris inside the bell housing, if not bench test the starter, make sure it is engaging correctly. and double check the starter is the right one, ford a lot of times used more then one starter type. put it back in with a thicker spacer and see if it still grinding.