Grady J
Registered User
First off thank you in advance for your help. Purchased my first diesel about a month ago, its a 1988 F-250 7.3 IDI NA, 176,000 miles and the C6 automatic transmission. Got it for $1500 knowing that it is a B**** to start. New batteries weren't holding a charge and the moron had autolite glow plugs. I did the 3g alternator swap and put in Motorcraft glow plugs and she started up great and batteries are now holding a charge. I THOUGHT my starting issue was solved until about a week ago when i got the dreaded grinding noise while starting. i was hoping it was just the drive gear on the starter but when i pulled the starter off and looked at the flexplate, well just look at the picture and see for yourself. the drive gear on the starter isn't chewed up at all and i'm kind of confused as to why it wouldn't be? isn't it supposed to be softer metal than the flexplate? So i guess the real question is, is the flexplate too far gone? I was just hoping to just clean it up with a file and reinstall the starter. Should i replace the starter?, I bench tested the starter and it seems to be working just fine but i'm no expert. I'd be happier than a two peckered goat if i could avoid dropping the tranny to replace the flexplate. What do you guys think?
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