flywheel question

[redrumracing01]

i was wondering on the 87-95 5.0l motors if there was a differnt tooth count on the fly wheels,my starter problem is back and its anoying as ever,i bought my t-5 and bellhousing from a freind in cali and he said it was out of a 93 cobra,my starter is a 92 5.0 starter,and my fly wheel is for an 88 gt.know im am confused becuse last summer i had the same problem as i do know,so i went and bought a new flywheel and starter,and the problem kept happining and it still baffles me i even put a differnt block plate in ,so now i think my bellhousing is the possible problem?next week im buying another new flywheel,and i already have a new starter.and i need to locate another block plate.and has any one had a problem like this?any help would be highly appriceated.

 

[stangman393]

What kind of problem are you having??

 

[89MustangGX]

They should all be the same.

 

[stock50LX]

If all the parts you have are for a stick shifted 5.0 they should be the same. Small block Fords have two possiblities that I know of for flywheel teeth, 157 and 164, and two different imbalances, 28oz and 50oz (for the 5.0) It's possible you have some parts that are older than you were told. You should not be eating up flywheels or starters, something is drastically wrong. Take your damaged flywheel and starter to a transmission shop and ask them for advice. Maybe they can tell you what is happening based on the wear pattern on the teeth.

 

[stangman393]

Also you can reclock the ring gear or flip it over so wont need a flywheel unless it is totally wasted.

Jeff

 

[TheRedBlur]

yeah what's the problem, is the starter binding? grinding?

 

[redrumracing01]

while the best i can describe it by is,when im cranking it over it makes an even knocking noise every 2 seconds then after starting it 2 or 3 times it just grinds like the bendix isint kicking out all the way.so it seems to me the starter isint sitting perfectly even, and all i know is im getting pretty sick and tierd of it and im probly going to pay some one else to install my new flywheel/clutch/starter.and the basic conclusion i have come to is my bellhousing isint in the correct shape.and also this is about starter #40
and flywheel #2.and if any one has an extra block plate shim or what ever the hell it is called please let me know.and i highly doubt my compression is too much for the starter,i have a stock 88 gt roller cam short block with 289 heads that have 53cc chambers and the starter is the newer 5.0 style with the seilinod on the starter,and the only other possible conclusion i can come up with is i need a 164 tooth flywheel and not a 157 thooth flywheel
thanks for some help

 

[stock50LX]

I agree that the bellhousing may be the issue. Why are you bothering with the blocking plate?

 

[redrumracing01]

while since i work at an auto parts store i looked up the replacement fly wheels for 87-93 50 mustangs/noncobra and the tooth count is 157 and when i looked up 93-95 5.0 cobra the flywheel tooth count was 164.so i figure i can ether get a differnt flywheel or a diff bellhousing and i think know my problem has been i have a fly wheel for an 88gt (157t)and a bellhousing off a cobra(164)and this has been making my problem th whole time.so if i dont have to get a diff clutch for the fly then i will just buy the flywheel for the cobra model as long as the balince is still the same which i belive it is.
if any one else has any more imput on this and thinks that might not be the prob any sugg would be great thanks

 

[89MustangGX]

I think you may be heading in the wrong direction. I would double-check your information before deciding where to go next.

AFAIK, the starter did in fact change on the later model cars (went to a smaller model), but the flywheel remained the same -- all at 157 tooth. The bellhousing also remains the same between cobra/non-cobra. Therefor, you should be able to interchange any combination of flywheel/starter/bekllhousing from any of the 87-93 cars.

 

["Mongoose"]

You can have the ring replaced on your flywheel at most auto/machine shops and save some $$$.
The starter size and quallity of rebuild is a important factor.
Your engines compresion is higher with the 289 heads do to there smaller cumbustion chambers.
If your starter isn't strong enough and your flywheel gear isn't hardend, you will have this problem forever.

 

[redrumracing01]

mongoose ive had the problem ever since i got the car and back then it was bone stock,and my info came from 2 diff parts books and booth read the same specs know it said the 164 th cobra flywheel is 14.25 inches while the stock ho one is 13.25 inches so now im just confused.and i have put a preety good reman starter and the problem was still there,and know i have the newer smaller type starter it worked fine for a while then it just went down hill again.tonight im gonna start pullin my tranny out and try 1 more new starter before i give up and after it happins again im just goona get rid of the car because im sick and tierd of this problem.im also gonna use a diff bellhousing.one thing i just realzed is 3 months after i got the car the starter fell out so maybe the bolt holes on the bell housing are screwd

 

[TheRedBlur]

ok so cobra bellhousing? hten you will need a cobra flywheel, and cobra starter. if you put a GT flywheel in a cobra bellhousing you will be ****ed considering the difference in diameters of teh flywheels, not to mention number of teeth.

lemme go back and check this ****.

stock-13.25 diameter & 157teeth
starter for 157 tooth required.

cobra-14.25 in. diameter & 164teeth
starter for 164 tooth requred.

makes sense to me because a flywheel with more teeth is gonna need more diameter to fit them, moreover, the belhousing must place the starters in different locations so that they will make proper contact. for example, of you had a stock bellhousing made for a 13.25 in diameter flywheel and you put a cobra 14.25 in. flywheel in it, you may get it to crank for a while, or maybe not at all, because the flywheel is too big, the starter(cobra on GT bellhousing) would have to dig into the flywheel to engage properly, if the situation was reversed and the flywheel too small, then it would engage(GT on cobra bellhousing) but have slack, sort of like stripping a bolt when you have a socket that is too big. I hope this makes sense..

 

[redrumracing01]

ok so cobra bellhousing? hten you will need a cobra flywheel, and cobra starter. if you put a GT flywheel in a cobra bellhousing you will be ****ed considering the difference in diameters of teh flywheels, not to mention number of teeth.

lemme go back and check this ****.

stock-13.25 diameter & 157teeth
starter for 157 tooth required.

cobra-14.25 in. diameter & 164teeth
starter for 164 tooth requred.

makes sense to me because a flywheel with more teeth is gonna need more diameter to fit them, moreover, the belhousing must place the starters in different locations so that they will make proper contact. for example, of you had a stock bellhousing made for a 13.25 in diameter flywheel and you put a cobra 14.25 in. flywheel in it, you may get it to crank for a while, or maybe not at all, because the flywheel is too big, the starter(cobra on GT bellhousing) would have to dig into the flywheel to engage properly, if the situation was reversed and the flywheel too small, then it would engage(GT on cobra bellhousing) but have slack, sort of like stripping a bolt when you have a socket that is too big. I hope this makes sense..

yea it makes more sense to me now.so im going to get the reg 5.0 bellhousing from my freind and try that before i buy a new flywheel. if the grinding and funny noises persist i willy buy a new flywheel.and i think whats been happining is is the starter just had tooooo much slack and thats whats been causing my problema the whole time so on wensday i will figur this crap out.thanks for helping me figure this out and hopefully if im lucky i will be at the track on friday if it is open.btw you wouldnt happin to have an extra block plate laying around because mine is from a 351w so i want to put in the correct one.

 

[TheRedBlur]

lol no extra block plates, make sure yer starter is for teh 157.

 

[redrumracing01]

ok i think the problem has finally been solve when i took out my flywheel i noticed the starter gear has been only hitting the edges of the teeth (becuse i should of had 164 tooth)so i went to abunch of shops and told them the problem and the differnces and so on and they all came to the same conclusion that i needed the 164th fly wheel,and it will be here tomarrow along with my new clutch and my 4qts of royal purple syncromesh .and gerarrd my starter is the same one for a 93 cobra.so now ever thing should properly work all parts are for a 93 cobra and not miss matched like they were.so tommaroow she might be driving finally

 

[TheRedBlur]

no prob homes, that's why they paid me the big bucks behind the parts counter... oh no wait, they didn't and I quit, nvm.

 

[89MustangGX]

Like I said before -- I think you're going in the wrong direction.

The flywheels, bellhousings, starters -- they're all the same from LX to GT to Cobra. The 164 tooth flywheel is for older cars and newer mod motor cars ... I doubt it will even fit inside the bellhousing.

I started to doubt myself, so I searched around again and have never found a single reference that says anything different about the Cobra stuff.

 

[redrumracing01]

problem solved ,93cobra starter 93 cobra flywheel 93 cobra bell.the fly wheel diffs were on the 94-95 cobras.will be driving on sunday

 

[89MustangGX]

Can you say that again in English? -- I'd actually like to know what you did.