1999 4.2 v6 with 133xxxmiles

Recently I have been hearing a terrible grinding noise whenever I try and start my truck. It will happen once or twice and then start right up with no grinding. It started happening about once a week then gradually started happening more and more. This same thing happened about 4 months ago so I replaced my starter and the problem stopped. But since it started up again I thought it was my flywheel with some broken teeth. But I checked the flywheel and all of the teeth are fine and its not warped either. Now my truck wont even start. You hear the starter spin but it doesnt kick out. That tells me the solenoid on the starter is bad but what I dont know is why this happen again on a 4 month old starter. Any ideas?

 

I had the same thing with my 2000 5.4. Mine lasted longer after I changed the starter(probably 2 yrs.). I was going to check my flywheel when I decided to trade the truck for a 2009. Cured the problem for about 50,000 miles then had to replace the starter on it. I know this isn't helping, just wanted to let you know you're not alone. I hope ford isn't starting to follow gm and dodge quality standards.