1989 Ranger starter problem?

dshwopper · Mar 30, 2014

Hello i have a 1989 ford ranger 2.9l v6 5 speed mazda trans in it. I have a ton of new parts. i bought this truck with a bad starter so bought a new its made some horrible grinding sounds. It lasted a few weeks and i decided to get a new starter got a new one it didnt make the grinding sounds. I just replaced everything. Flywheel with ring gear, clutch, pressure plate, pilot bearing, throw out, slave, clutch lines, battery another starter. Called around and heard flywheel shims, then heard starter shims witch i was thinking. now the big question. what i my distance suppose to be. bell housing to the ring gear. and how far is my start going to engage the ringgear? I havnt seen any forms about this yet. Ive been looking all night. I do not trust my haynes book since everything in my truck i different? I have everything back together and hate to take trans back out to spend more money. If you can help please help me out! i can spend pictures of the truck. I can count my flywheel death and start witch by the way is 9 on starter. Again it is a 1989 ford ranger 2.9l 5 speed madza trans

Thebrownmule · Mar 30, 2014

Im having the same problem. Been through 5 starters since jan. I would be interested to know if anything helps. I'm trying a different gear on the starter ill let you know how it goes

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cocoasranger · Mar 30, 2014

I have an 89 Ranger also. The Mazda M5OD R1 trans was not an option for the Ranger till later years. When I replaced my dead auto trans, I put in a Mazda M5OD R1 trans, clutch, and starter from a 4.0l Ranger. The 4.0l starter is much beefier than the original 2.9l one.

Find out which flywheel you have (8 7/8" vs. 10") and make sure the starter is the right one for it. Also make sure the plate between the engine and trans is the correct one. Also make sure you have a starter for a manual trans and not an automatic, which is different.
Hope this helps.

dshwopper · Mar 30, 2014

Coulda swear that it is a mazda trans, i couldnt find out what size i got to be honest. the plate i have is the same one had. i did some mesuring and my starter engages 1/2 inch outboard. I measured my trans plate to the ring gear i am 9/16s out. so im fully engaged except 1/16 of an inch witch shouldnt make that big of a difference i wouldnt think to be honest. the gears are lining right up, with not a hole lost of tolerance as i can tell. from my tiny whole in the trans. i know im allow 0.015 min and 0.025 max. Cant tell you exactly how close it is, but it is offly dang close to that. I bought some random whites and a 24 gauge wire (after translations) it does rub on both sizes.

do you really think i should go with the 4.0 starter?

adsm08 · Mar 30, 2014

The Mazda trans was the standard 2wd transmission from 1988 on up. It did not become available in 4x4 until 90, and was rare as a 4x4 trans with the 2.9s.

dshwopper · Mar 30, 2014

cocoasranger said:
I have an 89 Ranger also. The Mazda M5OD R1 trans was not an option for the Ranger till later years. When I replaced my dead auto trans, I put in a Mazda M5OD R1 trans, clutch, and starter from a 4.0l Ranger. The 4.0l starter is much beefier than the original 2.9l one.

Find out which flywheel you have (8 7/8" vs. 10") and make sure the starter is the right one for it. Also make sure the plate between the engine and trans is the correct one. Also make sure you have a starter for a manual trans and not an automatic, which is different.
Hope this helps.

I just got off the phone with o reillys it is a 11.661 inch flywheel with 138 teeth. My starter is 9 teeth wasnt able to find the gear size

Thebrownmule · Mar 30, 2014

I just put the 90 escort starter gear on my ranger. Starts up fine for the time being. No grinding or anything else. Ill update if anything else happens but for now the new gear seems to have fixed it

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dshwopper · Mar 30, 2014

I found my problem this afternoon dummy problem. Stripped out top bolt. Ended up putting two smaller bolts in with lock nuts on them and tightened them right up. Truck starts without a problem. Take some good measurements. 1/2 inch from bell housing. With starter engages 1/2 an inch. And get a 24 gauge wire. That is the "correct" distance for the starter to ring gear tolerance. Inspect through the inspection whole. A lot of fun. I ended up using a 1/32 thick wire shopping at my local hardware store. It was thick enough to bend but not flemcy. Also take the solenoid cover off. Put starter on all the way and push the lever down and it will engage. You'll feel it hit the ring gear and if you can see (almost impossible) check to see if its within tolerance. Also these trucks have flywheel shims and started shims. If need be.

dshwopper · Mar 31, 2014

Scratch that. Truck started fine three times. Fourth it started to grind but started. Now it only grinds. Thinking imma try a different starter. Possibly even need a new ring gear even though mine was installed Saturday. With 4 starts and maybe 60 miles on them. Checked all bolts all tight. Thread lock and locking nuts and locking washers. Any suggestions? Escort starter? 4.0 starter? Different ring gear?

dshwopper · Mar 31, 2014

Relay fuses?

forgey4x4 · Apr 1, 2014

89 must be a bad year, the ranger I bought has the same issue, but it has the mistubishi trans, fried the first starter, pulled the one out of my 89 bronco2 still makes the same noise. I guess I will pull it back apart and see if I missed something, maybe one of bolts is stripped?

forgey4x4 · Apr 1, 2014

Also, I am going to get a new starter can I just get one for a 4.0 or do I have to have a certain ring gear?

dshwopper · Apr 1, 2014

forgey4x4 said:
89 must be a bad year, the ranger I bought has the same issue, but it has the mistubishi trans, fried the first starter, pulled the one out of my 89 bronco2 still makes the same noise. I guess I will pull it back apart and see if I missed something, maybe one of bolts is stripped?

I've been looking it up all day. The conclusion I've come up with is. Buy the starter for the 4.0 make Sure its a 9 tooth. And make sure your ring gear is undamaged. I've been reading mostly its the starter it self making the grinding noise. It might cost a little more but might be worth it.... not sure I have not changed it myself. I did just order the 4.0 starter this afternoon. I will post to see what happens because as of right now my truck is not stsrting

dshwopper · Apr 2, 2014

I have no far fixed my truck. I ordered the 4.0 starter it was a 10 tooth starter. Meanwhile ordered the original starter from ford being 9 tooth. I got it since my top bolt was stripped. Using a m8 on the top with a lock nut. I went everyone to find bushings to hold it in place. Couldn't find any metal ones. I bought two plastic ones for the m10 just in case. Plastic though. Seems to be doing perfect so far. Hasn't made one bad sound so far! 5th starter and second ring gear lol.

I also talked to a mechanic at ford dealer. He said it is a common problem with starters grinding themselfs out. He said the other day a ford focus was doing it. He said even though its twice if not more its sometimes worth it to buy dealer items. Being 134 i purchased it and installed this afternoon. Started 4 times so far and gone 50 miles lol

forgey4x4 · Apr 2, 2014

Ok I found the same thing that the 4.0 has one more tooth, I dont know maybe the guy that put my fly wheel on put one for the 4.0, I dont know. I did how ever fix my top bolt also since it was stripped, I went to go buy the heli coil and it was 50 bucks for the kit which I have no prob spending but I figured I would try something different first, so what I did was buy a 7/16-20 tap fine thread, and bolt and went to town seemed to snug right up with no issues. So that might also be an option. Does anybody know how to figure out how many teeth are on my fly wheel by maybe counting a inch of it?

1989 Ranger starter problem?

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