I have a 86 f250 7.5 4x4
I've been going through starter about one every 2-3 months the teeth are busting on the edges and also getting hot. I haven't found out much only that the alinement maybe off with the fly wheel and the starter lining up.

 

either the starter ain't the right one or the dust plate ain't there. there should be a piece of metal between the engine and the trans. that covers the flywheel and also shims the starter to keep it from grinding on the flywheel. the reason why it get hot is because the exhaust pipes are there in that general area *** well that is where they come together to make a single pipe out the rear of the vehicle

 

There may be other shims needed besides the dust shield. I know the '85 needed extra shims.

 

There was a way to engage the pole shoe starter to check clearance when the drive was engaged that prevented the armature from turning , but at this time the procedure escapes my memory. If anybody knows what that procedure involved please help us out. With the drive engaged it was very easy to check pinion depth and gear clearance of the drive and the flywheel.

 

if I remember that truck still had the old style starter with two bolts and just one cable going to it. and sometimes you could just twist the starter a little bit to keep from grinding the teeth off of the gear. there could also be a difference in the number of teeth between one for an automatic and standard transmissions

 

Yes, there is a different starter according to the trans.

 

and with the starter out that would be a real good time to take a look at the condition of the flywheel to make sure that the teeth on the starter ring ain't ground off chipped or broken. it also makes a difference on the starter between a two wheel drive and four wheel drive

 

If I'm not mistaken, the nose pieces of the starters were different between a std and an automatic.