Preparing to change starter in a parking lot.

[tinman_72]

I had lots to do this weekend and I got up Saturday and sat around instead of getting up and moving around. So the Universe punished me when I went to Wal-Mart by having the starter peter out on me. Of course, no local parts stores had the starter in stock.
So I am going to be changing the starter out in the parking lot tomorrow morning. Is it a straight forward swap on a '98 AWD V8 with regular tools and a jack or do I need to spend exorbitant amounts of money to have it put on a flatbed and brought home?

 

[Fix4Dirt]

I had lots to do this weekend and I got up Saturday and sat around instead of getting up and moving around. So the Universe punished me when I went to Wal-Mart by having the starter peter out on me. Of course, no local parts stores had the starter in stock.
So I am going to be changing the starter out in the parking lot tomorrow morning. Is it a straight forward swap on a '98 AWD V8 with regular tools and a jack or do I need to spend exorbitant amounts of money to have it put on a flatbed and brought home?

on my v6 4x4 it wasnt bad. a normal socket set and jack should work think the driveshaft came out

 

[vroomzoomboom]

13mm, 10mm, socket. i cant remember if you need a 8mm as well.
extension, if you have a swivel it will help as well.
jack, jack stand. pull the tire of, and have at it.

 

[C420sailor]

Normal tools, assuming corrosion isn’t bad. Have an assortment of extensions and wrenches. Six and twelve point sockets. Is the front driveshaft T-30 torx tho? Can’t remember. Lowering/removing that will make the job much easier

Have you tried whacking it with a hammer while someone cranks it? May give you one last start to get home.

My 5.0 starter was so corroded that the bolts welded themselves to the starter. I had to break the starter apart with an air hammer.

Bring wheel chocks if you unhook the driveshaft

 

[410Fortune]

you do not have to mess with front driveshaft on 5.0
13mm and an extension
Bring 3/8" drive ratchet and sockets
Also a 13mm speed wrench is handy
You will need a 10mm for the small ignition wire
It is easiest to remove pass front tire and put truck on a stand, chock a rear tire =, unless your truck is lifted then you can scooch right underneath



Most important!!! DISCONNECT THE - BATTERY TERMINAL FIRST

98 5.0 should have a starter relay in the PJB under the hood (power junction box)
check the relay first, can swap it with the one next to it for testing

 

[C420sailor]

**** that’s right, it’s on the other side in the 5.0

I can’t keep my two trucks straight

 

[Turdle]

Agreed. Clean battery posts and connectors, even if they look clean, and check starter relay before changing starter.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

**** that’s right, it’s on the other side in the 5.0

I can’t keep my two trucks straight

it is? huh thats interesting! more v6 to v8 differences that i knew of!

 

[tinman_72]

It is done. I was worried that it would be a pain, seeing as how crammed everything is in the engine bay. It only took 20-30 minutes.

I tried whacking on it while my dad cranked it to no avail.

Thanks for the tip on removing the wheel. That actually freed up a good bit of crawl space. I looked in a Chilton's book and I could find no reference to a starter relay in either of the fuse box diagrams.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Turdle]

All you need is on the forum.

Solved - Fuse and relay locations--2nd generation power distribution box Layout-

I think this is a good sticky candidate-- Fuses are listed here * = maxi fuse 1*=50A I/P fuse panel 2*=40A blower motor relay 3*= 50A 4 wheel ABS module 4*=20a Main light switch-Instrument cluster 5*=50A Ignition switch, starter relay 6*=20A Transfer case relay 7*= NOT USED 8*=20A Auto Ride...

www.explorerforum.com

I advise looking through the how to threads, and, the under the hood section for starters. Heed the stickies at the top

 

[tinman_72]

Imagine that. Chilton's is wrong. The pic in your link looks nothing like any pictures in my book but matches my PDB. Fortunately the point is moot because replacing the starter fixed it.

 

[allmyEXes]

@tinman_72 So yours is a 5.0 and you did the work in the W-mart parking lot? Over here in north Alabama our W-mart parking lots are flat TG. One reason that I asked if it is 5.0, were all the fasteners on the starter standard instead of metric? I think that the rest of the 5.0 bolts are standard. Also I imagine that the working room between the frame rails would be similar to '87-'93 Mustangs...
Kudos to you for accomplishing your parking lot repair!

 

[tinman_72]

Yes, the bolts were 1/2". Had to stick with wrenches. The heads of the bolts are so shallow that a socket doesn't really stay on securely enough to apply torque with a swivel adapter. A ratcheting wrench would have been ideal but I made it work with regular wrenches.

 

[CDW6212R]

Well done, the starter R&R is not a tough job on these.

I typically end up using my two favorite 3/8" ratchets, one short and one long swivel head. The sockets sizes are easy, depending on what Ford 302 vehicle, one or both of the short socket or deep well is best. The extensions are simple too, I take my shortest three(1.5", 3", and 6"), and the most time consuming is finding the right combination of socket and extension to reach each of the two bolts. Once you figure out which tools work the best for each bolt, it's about a ten minute job.

 

[c96drumm]

@tinman_72 So yours is a 5.0 and you did the work in the W-mart parking lot? Over here in north Alabama our W-mart parking lots are flat TG.

Well, you got me there. What is "TG" ?

 

[allmyEXes]

@c96drumm "Thank Goodness" that the parking lot wasn't sloped or a hill. Recently we travelled through Blue Ridge GA which is in the mountains and even the Wal-mart parking lot was flat and level. Surprisingly to me...