FWIW I'm back!!

[zukirider21]

having a good strong electrical connection is always a good thing, but you also may have either a chewed up ring gear (only in a certain spot, hence why it works sometimes), or a chewed up pinion. what kind of starter is it? is it solenoid applied or does it have a helix?

 

[yodaman1151]

its a old ford starter... has the solenoid on the fender wall. i just replaced the flywheel so the ring gear is brand new.. and i took a good start gear drive out of a spare starter i had so both gears are very nice. i tested it on the ground and before i cleaned it out it wouldnt engage the bendix all the way out but after i cleaned it, it worked flawlessly.

 

[feellnfroggy]

Its the starter relay on the fenderwall, It should have a solenoid on the starter too, but maybe not. I replaced my starter the other day because it would click to engage and then nothing. Then I got the noise you are talking about. I had put a starter for an automatic on it(mine is 5spd) Go to pull a part/junkyard/wherever you get your parts and make sure the starter you install is for a 5spd. The reason mine clicked and wouldnt turn over(what started this whole mess in the first place) was a chewed up battery cable. My positive cable had corrosion inside the insulation. Check the power levels at the solenoid and at the starter and the battery. But the auto starter pinion is a hair longer than the manual and the starter gear teeth will not completely disengage the flywheel. When you put the new starter on make sure to file the flywheel teeth so you dont chew up the new starter gear.

 

[bvanmcknight]

nice ranger dude ill give you 651 for it!!!

 

[yodaman1151]

I polished up a starter I had in the garage and ran a ground wire from the frame to the starter bolt and she starts perfect now! Got the steering wheel wobble fixd and put new valve cover gaskets on yesterday

 

[yodaman1151]

Did the extended brakelines today... Thanks to who ever wrote the article in the tech library. Changing plugs, fixing the leak in the diff cover... Again and got e-brake lines and new door locks coming tomorrow