First…I am a novice mechanic at best and I have a problem I hopeI can get help with here….I have an 87 F150 that was my Father in Law’s untilhe passed away earlier this year. Right after I got it, the starter startedgrinding and as it turns out, it was loose so I tightened it and it did finefor a couple of weeks…then out of the blue, it started to grind again so I gotanother starter and put that one on…worked great for a few weeks…stopped atCostco on my way home one day, got in the truck to leave and it did nothing butgrind when I tried to start. Had to call AAA to get towed home. The next day Itook the starter off, took it to Advance to have it checked. It checked outfine so I put it back on and it started right up! Worked good for 2 weeks… gotin it to come to work one morning, did nothing but grind…SO, I thought, maybe Igot a bad starter, 3 weeks ago I went to O’Reilly’s to get another starter, putit on and it started up like a new truck!....until yesterday afternoon…haddriven it to Walmart, got in it to leave and the starter did nothing butspin…not grinding, but definite spinning…called AAA again L So now I am thinking it’s not the starter itself after all…?

I am at a loss as to whyit would start up like a new truck for 3 weeks and then without warning, justspin when trying to start it…I took the starter off yesterday and checked theflex plate teeth and I realized some of the teeth are damaged. Could these havegotten damaged when the starter wasn’t bolted tight when I first got the truck?Would a flex plate with damaged teeth cause the issues I am having? I tookpictures of the flex plate and if I can download them, I will.

Thanks for anyhelp you can offer, it is very much appreciated!

 

Sounds like the loose starter may have damaged the teeth, like you said.

 

Stick to the standard forum font.

 

I showed the post and pictures to a couple of people at work and one suggested I file those burrs off of the teeth. He suggested that when the starter teeth try to engage with the flywheel teeth, those burrs are preventing it. Almost as if the starter teeth are just up against the flywheel and not meshing which might be causing the starter to just spin...

 

That might work as a temporary fix until next time it leaves you stranded. If you want to be able to depend on it, you need a new flex plate.

 

I know...I am done with being stranded. Any idea what it will cost for parts and labor? I don't think it is something I can do myself unfortunately.

 

I can tell you on a 96 it's 6 hours of labor because the tranny needs to come out by the book. Part is listed at $100. So at my mechanic at $50/hr that's $400.

 

I wouldn't mind paying $400 to have it fixed so I guess I'll call around and see what estimates I get. However, I am still puzzled as to why the starter sounds like it's free spinning now...does that mean it's not engaging the flex plate at all? It seems like it should be making some kind of noise when it contacts the flex plate. I turned the engine by hand a little so there are good teeth that should be engaged with the starter teeth but it still just free spins...

 

If the battery is low it might be enough to make the starter gear spin but not have enough juice to engage the solenoid that pushes the gear out to meet the flex plate?

 

The battery is actually new and so is the Solenoid...I had someone tell me there are 2 different solenoids for F150s (not sure what determines which is the correct one to get) and I was sold the wrong one? Is it possible I got a bad solenoid? They are relatively cheap and easy to replace...maybe I should try that and see what happens? But if that's the case...would it work just fine for a couple of weeks and then without warning go bad? I know I am grasping for straws here but I want to try and rule out the inexpensive possible fixes before having to have it towed to a garage to have it fixed. Thanks in advance for any assistance!