We have a problem with our 76' Maverick with the 250 that has us stumped. The old original starter gave up the ghost and we replaced it and the solenoid. The first replacement starter would not disengage when we started the car. Thinking it might be a bad one, we took it back to the auto parts store and got another one. This one would not disengage either. We checked to make sure everything was lined up properly, which it was, and got ANOTHER starter and another soleniod just to be on the safe side. The problem remains. I seriously don't think we could have gotten three bad staters in a row. The store checked to be sure they were the right starters ( they were). So my question is, What the heck is going on here? The battery in the car is pretty much shot, so I was wondering if it could be the battery, the starter relay, or the ignition switch. Anyone have any ideas? :confused:
I should add that we did have the engine and tranny out of the car while we detailed the engine compartment. After everything was put back in, the car ran fine up until the old starter quit.
i would check the S post on the relay when this is happening to see if there is power there when it is happening, i would think that it is the ignition switch if there is power present. do you have 2 little posts on the solenoid or just 1? maybe you got the wires mixed up?
Checked the starter relay and it is getting power. We pulled the starter off and there are metal shavings in it which tells me that something is not lining up as we had originaly thought. We are going to try to shim it and see what happens next.
Jean, not to beat a dead horsey, but I'd still check that the wires aren't crossed. The shavings might be from the starter hanging up - because of the wires being crossed (would both wires be hot? prolly not). :confused: Whatever it is, let us know pls and Gluck, Rick
Ok, we double checked the wiring and all is A-OK. The problem appears to be that the starter gear is hitting the flywheel. I find it strange that the old starter didn't do this. I called down to see if the auto parts store still had the old one, but they already shipped it out. We wanted to compare the old to the new and see if there was any differences we may have missed. It sure is frustrating. BTW, I like the part about ' beating a dead horsey'. This is our Stallion we are having trouble with.
LOL @ Stallion comment. Makes sense now! How many of us have gotten a new starter only to find it didn't work either. Unfortunately, the parts counter guys don't have to install them when they give you junk. I had to change one on my BMW -the world's most difficult car to change a starter on- and found they gave me a bum "steer". Anway, I will remember that and prolly will have all replacement starters checked out before leaving the parts house in the future. Hang in there!
jean does the starter dis-engage if you use a screwdriver or pliers to "jump" the solenoid instead of using the key?
No it doesn't Scott. We tried that too. We are going to go to a different auto parts store tomorrow and get ANOTHER starter. We have the feeling that our store is giving us the wrong starter each time. Either that or they have a bad batch of them. Expect an e-mail later on tonight on the progress on Todd's Maverick.
Jean, I know how frustrated you all must be. I have seen this type stuff happen with starters so many times that I now have the shop bench test them before I take them out of the store. But what I do most of the time is a guy here runs a shop behind his house and he does starters, generators and stuff. He is a perfectionist and is big in the street rodding scene. I have him do all my important stuff. Seems the autoparts stores sure dont understand Mavericks. Keep us posted. Dan
Success at last! We FINALY got the starter problem fixed. As I stated before, the starter gear was hitting the flywheel. We shimmed the starter out just over 1/8" and now everything clears and the starter works just fine. We had a friend look at it and he agrees that the auto store might have been giving us the wrong starters all along. Thanks to everyone for thier advice and suggestions.
Jean what you went through is normal. Some parts stores will have a company make for x amount of dollars and they will. The bad news is they use junk to make a new starter. Your starter had a differant housing on it than what you are suppose to have. Some national part store I will never go to for electrial parts period got burned to many times. I hope you got your money back be for you went some where else. Glad to hear you fixed it.
Automatic and Manual transmissions used different starters ... maybe the autoparts store had them mixed up ...
This is true...NAPA will try to tell you the same starter works in a manual or auto tranny and it doesn't...Advance has two starters listed and you can see the difference in these in how far they move into the flywheel.
