I recently bought a 1978 Ford F-350 dump truck. It was having occasional starter trouble when I bought it, the starter would sometimes activate, but not engage to turn the engine over. I thought that the teeth on the starter gear were probably stripped, so I replaced the starter. The gears did seem somewhat cammed on the end so I figured that this was the culprit. I am two weeks into the life of my new starter and the same problem began happening today. Any advise? The truck sometimes does start just fine, but it seems that more times than not, it will either not start, or start with a rough, metallic sound. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Check for any damage to the flywheel's teeth, which could be chewing up your new starter. Also, see if the replacement starter is identical to a new OEM starter, particularly the gear.

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Originally Posted by Woodwrightmd

I recently bought a 1978 Ford F-350 dump truck. It was having occasional starter trouble when I bought it, the starter would sometimes activate, but not engage to turn the engine over. I thought that the teeth on the starter gear were probably stripped, so I replaced the starter. The gears did seem somewhat cammed on the end so I figured that this was the culprit. I am two weeks into the life of my new starter and the same problem began happening today. Any advise? The truck sometimes does start just fine, but it seems that more times than not, it will either not start, or start with a rough, metallic sound. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

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The consensus seems to be a damaged flywheel. I was, of course, hoping for a simpler and less expensive fix, but what can you do? Anyway, I really appreciate the input and I will have the flywheel checked-out. Thanks again.