Quick question... '97 E150 5.4L E4OD RWD.
I'm replacing the starter. As I unbolted the old starter I noticed a small crack in the bell housing where the one starter bolt mounts. It doesn't look like it's completely through the casting and obviously has held all these years.
I looked in several manuals for a torque spec for the starter bolts but they just say "tighten the bolts securely". Can anyone give me an approximate torque for these bolts so I hopefully don't make the crack worse? I'd hate to accidently make it "apprentice tight" and crack it completely.

 

Starting System specification page from the Factory Service Manual...

 

To etinpa, thanks for the quick information. That's exactly what I needed.

 

Well, it took a lot of patience to get the old (original) starter out after 29 years, but it's finally out.
My new question is... after I cleaned up the bolt's threads and the mounting threads in the aluminum bell housing... is it okay to use anti-seize when I put them back? I'd hate to see my new starter drop out on the road!
Thanks in advance.

 

Not ok. Doing so alters the torque specs from 16-20 ft-lb to perhaps 10-15 ft-lb and the starter has higher risk of dropping.

You said you cleaned the threads but the bolt heads still okay when using 13mm socket? As long as the bolt heads are still okay you should use tap and die kit with M8x1.25.
Use the die to the 3 bolts and tap to the 3 bolt holes on the bellhousing.
You said the bellhousing is aluminum but the bolts are probably steel, even if they are aluminum that doesn't mean they are tty (one-time-use) bolts and you can reuse them as long as the bolt heads are not stripped or rounded.

 

Yes, I cleaned the threads with an M8-1.25 tap and die, and the bolt heads are still okay.
The bellhousing definitely looks like cast aluminum and the bolts are steel, that is why I asked about using anti-seize.
I'm glad I looked up the bolt size first because the 4.6L and 5.4L use the M8-1.25 but the 5.0L and the 5.8L both use 3/8-16 bolts for the same year and purpose.
Thanks.