That old mechanic was right about the starter shims

A guy named Chuck who's been running his own shop since the 70s told me last year I was wasting time fighting with starter alignment on a 2002 Ford F-250. I thought I knew better, so I kept swapping starters and messing with the bolts for like 3 hours at a customer's place out near Springfield. Finally called him up frustrated, and he just said 'pull the shims, all of them, then add one back if it sounds angry.' Did exactly that, and the starter dropped right in on the first try with zero grinding. Saved me probably 2 hours of fiddling and a lot of cuss words. Has anyone else had an old timer tell you something simple that you ignored for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

gibson.mark16d ago

Right? Chuck's been doing this so long he's got the cheat codes memorized.

gibson.mark16d ago

So you really think pulling all the shims is some kind of magic bullet? Seems like every truck is a little different, especially with how much stuff gets swapped over 20 years. I've had starters that needed every shim in the book just to line up with a fresh flywheel. Not saying Chuck is wrong, but maybe he just got lucky on that one. I'd rather spend the extra 20 minutes checking clearances than have to drop the starter again in a month.