Does anyone know if a two bolt starter will work on 89 F350 7.3 IDI? I ordered a new starter and when it arrived at my house (yesterday), I opened the box and noticed it has only two holes for attachment to the bell housing, the old starter has three. The new starter is a gear reduction style while the old one is standard equipment.
Starter Interchangability
- Thread starter catbird7
- Start date
it should be fine
posibbly an industrial 4kw which has 2 bolt mounting.
posibbly an industrial 4kw which has 2 bolt mounting.
icanfixall
Official GMM hand model
If anyone would know Russ is the person to ask. If he tells you its fine I would trust that. For me reducing one bolt is a 33% reduction in holding power. But I do trust what Russ posted too.. Interesting the new starter is a gear reduction. Who makes this starter and who did you buy from. Might help others on this forum to know this.
Company called DB Electric, found them on the web. They offered several different starters with varying prices, I picked the most expensive one they had hoping for best quality. (it was around $160.00) The starter looks like a heavy duty unit and larger than the existing one. I'm somewhat concerned that it will fit dimensionally.
I just put a fresh Mitsubishi in mine that is a Planetary Gear Reduction (M8T50171). The OEM Offset Gear Reduction model (M3T90072) is discontinued. Tech Bulletin 856. Can't figure out what it sounds like when it spins but it is very fast.
icanfixall
Official GMM hand model
The original direct drive starters were delco and very slow spin starters. They lived a long time and some here prefer them to the gear reduction type. I want my engine spinning so fast when on the starter that I can't count the rpm. The faster the air is compressed in the cylinders the hotter it gets for compression ignition of the diesel fuel. Heat is what makes our diesels fire off. Not a glow plug.. Plugs are a simple helper on a cold engine start. Nothing more. Ever wonder why a push start diesel starts fast.. Those pistons are racing up and down in the cylinders making heated air much hotter than simple cranking.. Never continue to slow crank a diesel engine on low batteries. First off it kills the starters and secondly a slow cranking engine can't make the compression heat to ignite the fuel. In this case faster is better..
Kevin 007
Full-floater
In regards to interchangeability, are the starters the same on auto trans trucks vs manual trans? I have replaced many of both but have never compared the two.... How about ZF vs T-19?
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jaluhn83
Full Access Member
Yes. Only difference that I know of through the entire IDI line was early (83/84??) trucks which had a 10 tooth gear vs the later 13. Not sure if there's a difference in the ring gear or not. Then as mentioned there's at least 3 different styles of starter (mitubish gear red, ac delco direct drive and a another type of gear reduction - hitachi maybe?. Mitubishi seems to most common) but all interchange.
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