1977 Ford F150 Ranger Starting problems
Asked by tstansbro Apr 13, 2012 at 01:25 PM about the 1977 Ford F-150
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
Hi, my name's Tyler and I need some help. I have a 1977 Ford F150 Ranger with an FMX tranny and a 400 with headers. I took the starter off because it seized up one winter. Now I can't find a starter that'll connect onto the flywheel well enough to turn it over. Its 4wd with a stick to lock it in or out. What could be wrong? It catches just enough to grind then it'll kick off the fly wheel. Is there anything I can do? Any sort of knowledge on this would be of great assistance.
6 Answers
Has the fly wheel been changed? In any event have the old starter rebuild if it has the correct gear. If it's an original ford starter there should be a part number stamped on the body.
And I think the flywheel was changed. I'm not sure. But I'll drop the tranny and see if the flywheel is on backwards or something to that extent.
I have the same truck and have been having the same problem its like the flywheel is to small for the starter to catch the teeth rite its got me ready to give up just wandering if you have figured out your problem yes I have had my flywheel chamged, actully changed it twice because of thos problem everythings rite there any help is appreciated
Wilson-I have figured that the starter is the problem. You go to autozone or any mechanic shop that you have around you and tell the clerk the type of motor that you got, and the tranny setup. The starter is different of that than a regular say 300 6 cylinder or anything to that affect, considering the simple fact that the dome is a little bit longer. What happens is that the starter doesn't apply its teeth to full contact, the front of the bendix gear doesn't connect. You need to get the one with longer core, I'm not sure of the length myself, but I will find a link that shows the starter that you need.
http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?R=RSE2449200_0059586255 Here is a link to the starter that you would likely need. Its got a 4.5" dome on it instead of the conventional 3" dome like on your other ford trucks.
