Starter Replacement Problem?

[FordDilbert]

The starter in my 94 ATX finally died. The rebuilt one works fine out of the car but does nothing but whine when installed in the car. The rebuilt has a twelve tooth gear, don't know what the old one had. Any suggestions?

 

[Ishodu]

Thats your issue, you more than likely had a 10 tooth drive. You better take it back and see if they still have your core there to make sure.

 

[TYSHO]

The starter in my 94 ATX finally died. The rebuilt one works fine out of the car but does nothing but whine when installed in the car. The rebuilt has a twelve tooth gear, don't know what the old one had. Any suggestions?

If you're sure you have everything hooked up right, take it back, it's a dud. Be prepared for the "master mechanic" behind the parts counter to tell you it's good because you just bought it! You're most likely going to have to tell him your mechanic installed it and said it was a dud.

The problem with the counter top testers, they don't provide a resistance like the flywheel.

 

[TYSHO]

Thats your issue, you more than likely had a 10 tooth drive. You better take it back and see if they still have your core there to make sure.

Either will work, regardless of tooth number.

 

[Ishodu]

Not really, there are two differnt housings for the starters, one is offset more to allow the larger 12 tooth gear to engage.

 

[TYSHO]

Not really, there are two differnt housings for the starters, one is offset more to allow the larger 12 tooth gear to engage.

Well, I installed a different tooth one on my 93 and it works like a charm. Also, all gen2's call for the same part number at my local autostore.

I found this out and installed without worries from a post by Mr. Anonymous [SHO Mechanic].

 

[Ishodu]

Sometimes the drives get mixed up with the housings and will not work together.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

I hate to contradict my friend from north of the border, but the housings are the same regardless of which drive is used, 9-, 10-, or 12-tooth.

My bet would be on the lever that the solenoid actuates to engage the drive not retracting all the way and is allowing the drive teeth to continue contacting the ring gear.

For reference, any replacement Gen 2 SHO starter will cross to a "Lester" number of 3230.

 

[SHO NUT]

I hate to contradict my friend from north of the border, but the housings are the same regardless of which drive is used, 9-, 10-, or 12-tooth.

My bet would be on the lever that the solenoid actuates to engage the drive not retracting all the way and is allowing the drive teeth to continue contacting the ring gear.

For reference, any replacement Gen 2 SHO starter will cross to a "Lester" number of 3230.

You will have to contradict both of your 'north of the border friends' then ... there are indeed two different housings for the two different tooth counts and you can't mix and match gears and housings. I've taken the time to take careful measurements, and the housings are indeed different, and if you look carefully, you can actually see the geometric differences between the 10 and 12 tooth housings, though the differences are very slight, and would not be noticed by anything less than a trained eye

Having said that, any correctly matched gear/housing combination will work in either application. IOW, a correctly assembled 10 or 12 tooth starter will work in both ATX and MTX.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

You will have to contradict both of your 'north of the border friends' then ... there are indeed two different housings for the two different tooth counts and you can't mix and match gears and housings. I've taken the time to take careful measurements, and the housings are indeed different, and if you look carefully, you can actually see the geometric differences between the 10 and 12 tooth housings, though the differences are very slight, and would not be noticed by anything less than a trained eye

Having said that, any correctly matched gear/housing combination will work in either application. IOW, a correctly assembled 10 or 12 tooth starter will work in both ATX and MTX.

Well, I'm not brave enough to take on two Canucks at once, so I'll concede the issue! At least in regard to OE housings... According to my Lester catalog, the housings are the same regardless of the tooth count, but that could certainly just be the aftermarket housings. Plus, my trained eye was preoccupied researching the pyrotechnic laws in Tennessee...

 

[FordDilbert]

The Starter Solution

The 10 tooth was the winner.
I took the starter apart and attempted to assemble the housing in the car. With the gear extended the housing would not seat, it had about 3/8" to go. So I took the starter back to the shop in pieces hoping to get the original core back. We talked about the 10 and 12 tooth gears. I ended up swapping the 12 tooth (in pieces) for a 10 tooth he had on the shelf. Twenty minutes later it started no problem.
The gears are significantly different in diameter 10 tooth < 1" and the 12 tooth >1", so I concur that there must be two different housings. I remem ber the first guy at the shop telling me when he made the 12 tooth starter up that he made sure he had the same housing as on my original. A 10 tooth gear on a 12 tooth housing wouldn't do much starting either. So you definitely can't mix and match. One other thing to note, be careful that you get the positive wires connected on the starter in the right position. If you don't, they can interfer with the oil filter causing it to leak which the starter doesn't like very much.
The cars in my garage for the first time in a week, now I'm going to have a beer and watch the hockey game.
Thanks for all the help.