UPDATE:
Got the trans in today. New starter, installed the T-case, and rear shaft.
Hit the keyā¦.
Motor spun slowlyā¦ tried againā¦. Same result.
No biggieā¦ dead battery right?
Nopeā¦. Now the starter just grindsā¦. But motor āseemsā to turn normally.
Gonna get a socket on it tomorrow and confirm.
Otherwise, anyone need parts?!
I put all the new clutch & stuff in when I put in the rebuilt 2.9 when I got The Missing Linc. About a year later, the starter started to slip a little bit, and then in the Walmart parking lot it just spun, and you could tell it was touching the teeth, but not connecting.
I did a bunch of reading on TRS and a couple of other places, and learned that the starter actually has a pretty good amount of wiggle room when you bolt it up, but just pushing it in closer to the flywheel only works temporarily, itāll vibrate out a little bit, even if the bolts remain tight.
So I went into the shed of miraclesā¦
I took some 1/8th inch aluminum, and cut a couple of wedges about the size of the wedge you would use in a hammer handle when youāre putting the head on. I hammered the tip of the little triangle down just a little bit, and I folded over the wide side (so it would sit on the face of the hole in the bell housing like a washer) and then hammered that down, but then cut off 90% of the excess hanging outside the hole, so the bolts would seat all the way, but still push that wedge in around the outside of the bolt. I mean, those wedges were really pressed in there, totally deformed/extruded on the outside side of the bolts holding that starter in tight to the flywheel.
I put those little wedges in the holes on the bell housing away from the flywheel, actually had to tap the bolts in a little bit with them in place to get them started, so as I tightened up the starter bolts, it forced it as far as possible against the flywheel.
That was a couple years ago and this is the next time Iāve thought about it.
Might be worth a tryā¦
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