Ford C4 tranny Starter problem

[Dirk35]

Hi all, as you might remember, I needed help with the flex plate for my old C-4. After deliberation it was decided that I needed a  157 tooth with the 50oz balance weight.

Well, now I cannot get the started gear to allign up. Its like the starter gear is too small. I cannot get it to mesh (it wont even touch the flexplate at all). I got the JEGS starter for the C-4, and It has the aluminum adjustable mount plate.

The tranny was determined to be a 1980 Ford Granada.

Do i need a different starter? JEGS tech peopl eusually dont send the wrong parts. In fact, Ive never had a single part from them not work. Im used to it from the local store.

Whats you guy's opnions?

I dont want to try to crank it over, as if its not lined up, itll shear the teeth.

[beatnik]

Sounds like you may have the big 164 tooth bellhousing with the 157 tooth flexplate.

Check the depth of the bellhousing it should be 5-7/8" from the face of the bellhousing to where it mounts to the transmission case. It really doesn't matter if it's case fill or pan fill because the bellhousings interchange unless you know the history of the trans.

If it's 6-1/4" its the 164 tooth bellhousing and it mounts the starter further out from the flexpate and the starter won't engage.

Also see:
http://www.tciauto.com/tech_info/c4_bellhousings.htm

I just went through this with my project.

Here's a pic of a block plate I used it works with either bellhousing and you can see where the starter bolts there are two bolt patterns one for the 157 tooth and one for the 164 tooth.

[Dirk35]

Hmmm, my engine is balanced with that flex plate. Do I need the other bell housing?

I have that spacer plate. The aluminum one form Ford.

I dont remember mine having two sets of bolt holes like yours does. But I can tell that sure would fix the problem!!!!!!

DO I need another bell housign then?


Or should I have gotten the larger flexplate?

[beatnik]

I'm betting you need the bigger flywheel, but you still need to measure your bellhousing to verify which one you have.  There's no sence in just buying parts if your not sure there going to work.

Check the depth of the bellhousing it should be 5-7/8" from the face of the bellhousing to where it mounts to the transmission case. It really doesn't matter if it's case fill or pan fill because the bellhousings interchange unless you know the history of the trans.

If it's 6-1/4" its the 164 tooth bellhousing and it mounts the starter further out from the flexpate and the starter won't engage.

Also see:
http://www.tciauto.com/tech_info/c4_bellhousings.htm

[Dirk35]

Questions:
1.
How much bigger is the 164-tooth flexplate than the 157-tooth? From what I can tell, I need about a 1/4" diamater to get the starter gear to get close enough to engage. And from what I can see in the difference in mount holes on that pic that Beatnik posted, it really looks thats the difference I need.

2.
It looks like the flexplate has pleanty of room in there, like a LOT of room for a larger plate. And the spacer plate tha tI have, I dont think it has the two sets of holes for the starter like the one that Beatnik posted. So, If I get the larger flexplate, the 164-tooth with the 50oz balance, will it cause any problems that my engine is balanced to the smaller plate? Acutally, what Im asking, is, will it be any noticible difference of the balance job the shop did with the smaller plate? Ill be using the same 50oz balance weight plate, itll just be larger.

3.
I have another bell housing, I dont know that its the smaller one or not, If it is, can I just mark and drill the holes in the spacer plate if it is the smaller bell housing?

Thanks in advance.
-D

[beatnik]

1: About a 3/8" See photo of a 157 tooth on top of a 164 tooth. I used a flywheel to show the difference but the dimensions are the same as a flexplate.




2. The larger flexplate will work, but check to see that the machine shop hasn't cut any weight or added any weight to the flexpate they used for balancing first.

3. I opted to buy a new one, but you should be able to modify the 164 tooth spacer plate to work with the 157 tooth bellhousing, just remember to cut the opening for the starter as well as redrilling the starter bolt holes.


Make sure to check the bellhousing depth so you know what parts you need before buying anything else. The spacer plate. flexplate, and torque converter, all must match the bellhousing size.