The starter on truck has been acting up for a while. Turn the key and the only sound I hear is clunk…. Hit the key a few more times then it would start. It eventually got to the point where I would have to go to the passenger side of the truck with a small hammer and hit the starter a few times. Then it would fire up. Well I finally got tired of dealing with it when it took me about 8 times of beating on the starter before I could go home from a doctor appointment.
I guess I will finally put a new starter in…
Swapping out a starter is pretty easy on this 7.3 Powerstroke Diesel. No special tools needed just a few wrenches is all.
- 10mm
- 16mm
- 17mm
- 1/2in
First thing that’s needs to be done, is the batteries need to be disconnected. Yes both of them. Using a 1/2in box end wrench loosen and remove the Negative cables from the batteries.
The starter is located on the passenger rear side of the engine at the bottom. Mine is manual transmission and the starter bolts to the transmission case.
There are a couple electrical connections on the back of the starter solenoid. They are much easier to remove after the starter has been taken off. In order to remove the starter there are 2-17mm bolts.
One On the Bottom
I left the bottom bolt stugged up to keep the weight of the starter off the top bolt. I did this because it’s tough to get your fingers in there to remove the bolt. Once the top bolt is out, it easy to hold the weight of the starter and remove the bottom bolt.
There is a 10mm nut and a 16mm nut that need to be removed in order to disconnect the two wires. One wire is a constant 12v from the battery and the smaller wire is a signal wire.
How a starter works is like this… when you turn the key to the start position, it creates an electrical contact or closes a switch. Then that electric signal is sent to the solenoid via the small signal wire. This closes the solenoid, thrusting the drive gear forward out of the case. It also activates the starting meter which spins the starting gear. The gear meshes with the gears on the flywheel on the back of the motor, which turns the motor over. Then once the vehicle is started and you release the key, the drive gear on the starter retracts back into the case.
The clunking I was hearing was the starter solenoid trying to push the drive gear out but it was stuck. So a few taps with a hammer would be enough to get it go. As the issue got worse it took beating on the starter several times before it would engage. Just a little trick if this happens to your vehicle. If you have another person with you, one person can hold the key in the start position and the other can tap the starter. I wish I had another person with me a few times. Anyway… let’s get this new starter out in, shall we?
After a quick run to the auto parts store and… $250 dollars later, I got a brand new shiny starter in hand. To install just go in the reverse order you took it off.
Don’t over tighten these nuts!! Only 8ftlbs on the small one and 10ftlbs on the big nut
Then install the starter in the starter cup of the transmission. Install the bottom bolt first and get it finger tight. Again this makes it easier to get that upper bolt started.
Using your 17mm wrench tighten the 2 bolts the rest of the way down. As far as torque specs… I just get them good and tight.
Now that the starter is in, bolts are tight and electrical connections are tight reconnect the batteries and start that bad boy up!! This new starter is so much quieter and turns this big diesel engine over fast!!
I’ve got a couple of things on the list for my truck that need fixed. One is the steering gear box that is leaking and the other is this pesky oil leak that seems to be coming from the oil feed line to the turbo. I plan on upgrading the steering box to a Red Head steering box. I should be able to dry steer these big 35 inch tires with my pinky finger once that is put in. Anyway thanks for stopping by and checking out this quick and easy starter Change out.
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