Soul crushed and seeking advice on starting problems

[TacoBelleGirl]

Update:

I am now in possession of a used 4.0 manual starter. The solenoid is cracked at one of the terminals so it needs to be replaced, but that's fine since I have the other starter with a good solenoid.

Sadly, we are in for another round of cruddy weather and I didn't think to remove the other starter ahead of time so we will see actually kinda nice out.

Having said that though, I am feeling a little optimistic about this starter. I have made some observations between it and the other starter I have.
The most significant thing is that the gears are different! The reman I got from O'reilly's is on the left and the used one I got is on the right. To my eyes the O'reilly's starter gear clearly is clearly different on the inside end than the used one.

There are also differences in the physical body and casting of the starters, some of which is also visible in the same pictures above.
Most noticeably when looking at them from the bottom (if they were mounted in the vehicle)
O'reilly's on left, used on right:

Also noticed on the older starer the gear can be spun in either direction with something like a flathead, not the same with the used one I just picked up. This actually made me look it up and I learned apparently there's a clutch that can fail. TIL.

So I am hopeful that once I have a little time with some decent not too wet weather I can get the other one out of the truck, compare them side to side, swap the solenoid, install the starter, and then cross my fingers.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Yes, Ford calls it an "over running clutch drive". Basically its some barrel ball bearings in a ramp. Spun in one direction the ball jams against the outside. Spun in the other the ball is at the bottom of the ramp and everything spins free.
Good luck, hope it all works out.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Fingers crossed.

 

[bobbywalter]

in theory it can also short travel causing an engagement issue. i am still wandering around the country and timed out....believe it or not i could not junkyard source this style 4.0 auto starter. the new style is everywhere.....

i am wondering if going to the new style plate since they are everywhere and the new style starter is a better idea.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

@TacoBelleGirl , I’ve actually repaired cracked plastic around the terminals before. My 92 Ranger, I cracked it like that getting it apart. I didn’t have a spare or money at the time and I confirmed that I didn’t damage anything other than cracking the plastic around so I cleaned it up, scuffed up the plastic with some coarse sandpaper, then proceeded to use superglue and baking soda mixed to glue everything together. Worked great. If you’ve never worked with that, be aware that the baking soda sets off the superglue so it hardens to a rock really fast.

 

[TacoBelleGirl]

Well here's an update for y'all!

I found some energy and happened to get nicer weather than I was expecting today so I decided to pull off the old starter and indeed 100% those gears are different.
I swapped the new solenoid into the starter I bought.. got it installed.. and she cranked over and was able to start!!

Sitting in that exact position with the other starter it did not make contact with the flywheel. The truck has sat in gear with the parking brake on not moving since the last time I tried it so it didn't move to a better part of the flywheel.
As a hunch, I cleaned and reinstalled the old crank position sensor and at least the twice I tried, found it started much quicker than with the new one I had installed.

So that's the good news!
Not great news though is that sometimes it will crank for a few moments and then just kinda freeze before then moving again. I can't imagine that's a sign that everything is 100% working correctly, though maybe the battery was a little low?
Last time the truck started was in December and it hasn't been charged since then + some cranking with no start on the new pip that I will not be using anymore lol.
Additionally, it's still a little loud, but @bobbywalter did say that when he has helped people with this issue before that it's continued to be noisy (plus those teeth are already damaged from the other starter motor).

I am very happy to say that I have ended my day by taking my truck thru the taco bell drive thru.

Now that I have it out, here are two pictures more clearly comparing the 2 gears in the starter with the one on the left being what I was having trouble with.