94 4.0 5spd starter is dying

[Andy D]

Anybody ever rebuild a starter ? At 130k it is starting to have issues. It is the starter, it may be a bad cable or something. I crossed the big leads at the starter and the motor spun slowly and didn't engage the drive. Then when I crossed the relay on the fender , it engaged and started the engine. I would like to find a bearing and brush kit and try fixing it. Input is welcome TIA

 

[willy]

More work than worth in my opinion id just get a lifetime warranty one from the autozone after 2 or 3 you get a good one

 

[Andy D]

I took the starter out. P/N F370-1131-AA Or something like that. It has the Ford insignia on it. Motorcraft? It turns slowly and is noisy. The bushing at the flywheel end has side play. It rattles when I shake it. It is covered in 20 yrs of road dirt and what ever oil that leaked onto it. I thought. that I had cleaned it up when I had it out, Nope. The fields and armature wiring is still OK. The case is good. If I can find bearings and brushes and solenoid guts. I'm using 10x50mm socket head bolts and some washers to hold it in. I threw an old rug underneath and put the light on top. I used my smallest 3/8 ratchet, a 3" extension and an 8 mm Allen socket to spin out the bolts. Once I had the starter down, I took the cable and the wire off. Those connections were cleaned, including new cable ends 3 yrs ago. The bolts were way easier to get out than what I took off when I did the clutch.