Have a 97 F 150 4.6. Starter will sometimes not engage when I try to start. I can turn the key and it won't engage, but as soon as I turn it again it will engage. Only does this every so often. Took it to Ford and they replaced starter. Lasted about a week and did it again, would take it back everytime it would do it but of course it would never do it for them. They supposedly looked at flywheel and said teeth are okay. I gave up on taking it to them. Could this be a ignition problem? Someone please help I've lived with this problem for over a year now.

 

What do you mean by "not engaging" ? Please elaborate. Are you saying that it doesn't do anything, or is it going "irrrrk" or is it just turning up, or what?

 

The starter motor turns but the bendix does not engage fully on the flywheel so it makes that metallic grind sound. Like I said most the time if I release the key and try it again iy will engage. Any Ideas?

 

If your voltage is good, then it's either the starter or a boogered up flywheel, or it is the wrong starter.(not likely) Mine did the same thing for about 4 years. It finally got really bad, and after 3 starters I broke down and had the flywheel ring gear replaced. It's been about a year since that and I have had nothing but smooth starts since.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Although Ford dealer supposedly checked the flywheel out I'll slide under there and give it a look. Did you have dealer repair it or did you?

 

I had the dealer do it. I had a ripped seat, blown dash lights, and some other "take forever" jobs, so I just let them do it. They did a good job, except that they wiped my guage cluster off with something greasy, and now dirt sticks to the inside of the guage cluster!!!!

 

On the 97-03 4.6's starter alignment is a b*tch. If your old starte was on its way out, and they put a new one one, there's a good chance they didn't align it correctly. Try shimming the bottom bolt with a thin washer, and see if it helps. Beats re-ringing a flywheel...

 

Thanks I'll give that a try, need to slide under and look at the teeth anyway.

 

If the starter spins, but the bendix doesn't kick ouot, it's not getting the trigger signal to the solenoid on the side of the starter. Odds are, it's a bad connection to the starter, the wire itself has corroded, or both. 5 minutes with a test light will narrow it down.

-Joe