Thanks for the response Jack...yea the clicking, like ud hear if your battery was dead just started one day, and it went away and came back and then got worse, and yea the bump killed it....i cleaned the connections with a wire brush... I went out today and bought a new starter at napa and installed it....it starts now...but there is a weird grinding noise going on in the middle of the start process, not in the very beginning but right before it starts, and i asked someone about it and they said use shims, but i wouldnt know where to start or how, and the other one had no shims and it was identical. here is a video of the sound its making....
http://qik.com/video/E3EF6ED3FBBC4DB69F54E2B717CE13A8
its a little hard to hear but right before it starts theres a scratching noise na d pretty high pitched....i just unbolted the old one and rebolted the new one.....nothing else

 

The starters can be identical in appearance but the bendix in the starter is being thrown farther into the flywheel. You need to get sone thin shim material and put between the starter and the facing where the starter monuts. Can also be put around the starter bolts. It effectivly backs the starter out of the mounting , slightly so that the bendix will not reach the flywheel.

 

ok so do u think i should put one on each bolt by the sound of the truck? would small washers work? and if not every bolt where should i start?

 

Yes, every bolt. Washers will work if very thin. It usually does not take much. I have always used shim material and cut it, but a very thin washer will work. You judt don't want to back it off so much that it barely engages.

 

Wouldn't Napa sell the shim material? I can't imagine it costs much at all, and it would be the preferred fix.

- Jack

 

ok i went back to napa and got the shim kit for ford which is basically the outline out the starter, and i put it on and it grinds even worse on start and somethings grinding the hole time while it runs......oh my god...someone guide me in the right dirrection! haha ive gotten pretty good at getting the starter bolts in and out tho

 

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/cat...questid=847400

this is what i got

 

It sounds like the starter gear isn't disengaging. How do the teeth look on the new starter- any chips or burrs?
If it is hanging up it will make some awful noises. I don't know how to check the clearance on the Fords, I've always been able to yank the old and put in the new, never had to shim anything. Chevy-----way different story!
Could also be a bad unit outta the box, that happens too.

 

starter looks brand new, should i try and remove it and leave it hooked up to all the wires and try and start the truck? to see if i hear any of the grinding coming from the starter? its weird like when i put it on the first time,....it chirped right before it starts, and then after the shim, it grinds the whole time....even while its running and already been started

 

What you got looks right, and naturally, I'd take it off. Looks almost like your pinion drive needs to extend slightly further in, but I have a feeling this is all a "trial and error" job.

I only changed a starter once in my life, and the result was not too satisfactory because the teeth on the ring gear had already been damaged. And, I'm worried that too much of this "grinding" will do just that to yours. Pull the starter again and examine the pinion gear on it for damage. (A tiny bit of wear is to be expected).

Were there any "alignment" instructions at all with the starter? I know your funds are tight, but this may be a case of where you need to take your truck to a reliable shop to avoid further, more expensive damage.

You might try asking about installing a starter in the appropriate engine forum (V8 Engines I think?). There are probably people there who do this for a living and they may be able to help you. It feels like we're not doing that here - and, I'm STILL bothered by the fact that your truck died from hitting a "bump", but you may have cleaned up the connections that caused this problem.

SSCULLY, are you still looking at this? Do you have any thoughts (electrical-wise), my friend?

- Jack

 

Crap! That sounds exactly like it's not disengaging. I would certainly prefer the "chirp" to what you are describing now.

- Jack

 

heres a video of the starter out of the truck engaging....sounds normal to me? what do u think? http://qik.com/video/795097E54DF74AD8931857530CF85816
and like the shim i used, its prob the thickness of a nickle or something maybe a hair bigger, should i try using something smaller?

 

haha yea jack the chirp sounded alot better....is there anyway a threat moderator can move my thread into the v8 forum or do i have to start over?

 

yea so i went ahead and took the spacer out and reinstalled it, and it sounds a little worse then the first chrip, its so high pitched like when you try and turn on a car after its been turned on already....almost like the starter is sticking or something? i dont know im done for the night.....let me know fellas

 

morning everyone.....does it sound like the starter is sticking even tho its new? or is it something i did? because if i barley turn the key......sometimes it wont start but when it does start it doesnt make that noise.....but turning the key normally it makes it and it sounds horrible!