89 ranger Starter just spins

[s13drift]

I have an 89 ranger with the 2.9 5 speed 4x4.. Since i got it I've replaced the fallowing. Clutch, fly wheel, slave and master cylinder, Starter x2, Starter solonoid, battery, All wires and connections from batter to solenoid, solenoid to starter, grounds...ect Why is my starter just spinning?. Everyonce in a while it will grab part of the flywheel and grind horribly then just start spinning freely. Does anyone have any Idea to what this could be?

 

[Zachalanche]

4 possibilitys I can think of off the top of my head.

-bad starter

-starter has come loose (make sure both mounting bolts are there and tight.)

-starter housing has come apart (this happend on mine)

-missing teeth on flywheel (I have seen some pretty ugly flywheels still work so I would suspect the starter first.)

remove the starter and inspect the flywheel. test the starter before you reinstall it, either by taking to a parts store or hooking 12 v up to it. (make sure the gear kicks out and be careful).

 

[Zachalanche]

also make sure you have the correct starter. if you don't the gear might not be close enough to the flywheel.

 

[ranger]

make sure it is a manual starter there is a difference between the starter for a manual trans and an auto trans

 

[badnewsranger]

im from pa and if where your from is like here the problem is that the auto parts no longer sells a specfic starter for stick trucks anymore they tell you the nose cone is the same on auto and stick starters but they are not the stick stater nose cone is an 1/8-1/4 inch longer then that of the auto sollution change starter nose cone to that of one from a stick that still has factory starter in it other wise no good i ran into this problem on mine to get it to start to go home one day with no people around and on flat ground i took starter bolts lose and pryed over on the starter towsards the motor but not to much could break nose cone but enough and held pressure then tighten bolts as much as possible with out stripping threads nad its a temp fix but only real sollution is change nose cone

 

[Zachalanche]

make sure it is a manual starter there is a difference between the starter for a manual trans and an auto trans

I was unaware of this, and since my truck has been converted to manual it has had the auto starter for the past 50K miles with no issue. maybe I've been lucky.