I got some great advice telling me to get the 157 tooth 50oz flex plate from summit. Well, I did that but I used the starter from my 250six...itseemed to have it's teeth partly engaged at all times. While finding top dead center I could hear them rubbing......I've been waiting a long time to fire it up, so, dispite the rubbing I did.....success! However, it did stall and the starter is fried. What starter should I ask for when I get a new one? Could there be something else wrong? Thanks John C
It sounds like you found your MAJOR problem - the starter. If the teeth were partially engaged then the engine did a number on it. Tell your (O'Reilly or other) parts counter man what set up you have (year of engine and tranny, size flex-plate, etc). He should be able to fix you up with a starter for your application. The teeth should only engage during cranking, then retract away from the flywheel (flex-plate). If the teeth still engage on the flex-plate when you put the new starter in, I wouldn't try starting it. It's only going to cost you another starter. Good luck,
Right On......but has anyone experienced this. I was told that the 302 starter and 250six starter were the same
5.0 starter just get a starter from a 92 mustang gt, that's what I asked for when I got mine. They are all the same for those years anyway. THat's the one you want. My 250 starter died in the first few days too, but it did engage properly.
so... Is the starter more based on the engin rather than the trans....because I'm using a late model engine, I should use a late model starter too? I returned the starter I fried for a new one at no cost to me.....it worked for a few times....I even cranked the engine by hand again to make sure nothing was rubbing. It seemed fine until today. I started it up to take it to the exhaust shop and all good. I decided to shut it off and check the header bolts one last time(instead of blowing the gaskets out on the road) The darn thing got stuck again. Oh, I used a shim....actually it didn't work at first. I bet it needs shims. Does the 92 starter have additional wiring needed or just 1 hot wire. Ideally I get the right thing. What have others used too? Thanks
Starter..... I have the same flexplate as you, and I have a late modle 5.0 as well. I used my original 302 stater from my Maverick. (Don't know if the 250 and 302 are the same) I would not get a 5.0 Mustang starter, because the Maverick and Mustang flexplates are not the same. The Mustang has 164 teeth, while the Maverick has 157 teeth. You do not want mismatched parts because you will get unproper gear match/mesh. The Mustang starter is designed for the 164 teeth not the 157. If you use these together you will damage the flexplate and/or starter. I would recommend using a Maverick 302 starter and seeing if that works. -Corbin
well That's what I'm doing...I asked and the part #'s are the same between the 250 and 302. I think I'll just shim it out more?
What do you mean shim? I am just curious what exactly you are shimming. Are you shimming the starter away from the transmission? I don't know why you would have to do this. Is it possible you put the flywheel on the wrong way (inverted)? If this happened, the teeth would be too close to the starter and it wouldn't disengage properly and mess up starters. This would also be a probable cause of the need for shims. The weight (balence) on the flywheel should be facing the engine block. Do you remember the way you installed it? I would check that if it keeps eating starters. -Corbin
The flex plate is facing the right direction. I can't figure it out either....unless the new start is bad too. I might add that the weight actually shaved the case on the starter. It makes no sense. What else could be wrong besides my luck?
Starter JC13 Check to see if the Bendix is retracting fully and not hanging up. This may be the cause of the the starter not disengaging. Hope this helps. Tony
Well, I am stumped. I am sorry to say, that I have no other ideas at the moment. I will give it some more thought and if I think of anything I will get back to you. Hopefully others on the board will have some more suggestions for you. -Corbin
I would suggest a new 302 flexplate. They're not that expensive. Only bad part is removing the trans to get to it. Is there a shim between the crank and flexplate? Some engines had them, some didnt--not sure why, guess it was one of Ford's great ideas that went nowhere. I've never used a 250 flexplate, so I dont know if they're different or not. Balance weight might be a bit different, but I'm not familiar with the 6's at all.
thanks I have a new 50oz. 157 tooth flex plate. I think the 250 had a small shim on the flex plate but it was very thin. For some reason I had to use a shim on the starter. The washers I used the first time were not thick enough. At auto zone they had a "help" starter shim for ford....who knew. It works great and as of today has exhaust. I just have a few little things to do. I still have to; hook-up the kick down linkage, the neutral safety switch, and bleed the brakes/maby bench blead the master cylinder. After that the list goes on and on. I would say that an engine swap is like a tragic event. You feel so helpless and then ultamately you survive. I didn't even have a friend hanging-out drinking beer while I worked on my car....let alone direct help. I would like to thank all who did help and talk me through it. I had to move before I was finnished and I did it all in a parking lot/started in a drive way. It's fast.....
way to go, JC. Glad to hear you're getting her lined out. I had similar problems when swapping in the 393w. Had to build headers for it, but almost gave up completely on the swap after I took the first look at an old 351 block that I set in the engine bay--thought there was no way it'd ever work. Just have to keep an open mind and tell yourself that it CAN be done one way or another.
