I'm sure someone else has had this problem. My starter on my 83 Ranger works for a while and then sounds like it is trashed inside. I have made shims (ground them down on one side to make the starter go in at an angle) and put them behind the starter and bolted it up tight. It works for a while and then goes back to crap. I also have a clutch problem. I hear a chirping sound when the clutch is fully released. If I take the slack out of the clutch peddle it stops. I put in a new clutch and throwout bearing,but did not replace the clutch fork. I noticed that the bearing had moved on the fork and made scratches in the metal were there were none before. I hate to drop the trans again becase it is a 4x4, but I don't think I have a choice. Any help would be appreciated!

Did you inspect the starter ring gear on the flywheel when it was apart?
What about the input shaft bushing or bearing on the flywheel, was it looked at or replaced also?

The ring gear was replaced and the imput shaft bearing was also replace with the rebuilt motor. This problem has been ongoing for about 4 years with the starter.

I had some similar issues with mine becoming loose.
My problem was mainly starters that didnt have the ass to fully engage the flywheel, resulting in loud gnashing and vibrating the bolts loose as well as a good flat spot on the flywheel.
I finally cleaned the threads and bolts and locktited the heck out of them after getting several new starters tested and taking the strongest of the bunch. (trust me on strong, it bent a rod in half the next day when my engine was flooded out from hurricane rain)

During the rebuild, I changed the flywheel out to a newly ringed one also.

If the starter is under warranty now, I would pull it and have it tested along with all the others they have on hand to fit. Take the strongest one and clean the threads on the tranny, running a tap thru just to be sure there aren't any damaged threads and make sure you get it on tight. (top bolts a bish to get tight on mine as it most likely is on yours)

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Hey Okie,
If you figure out what the problem is with your starter please give me a holler cause I got the same problem with my 88 BII the only difference is mine is an automatic trans.I mean the symptoms are identical,growls like hell,sounds like it's tearing something up inside.I was considering making some shims like you did,but I guess that won't work either.
I replaced the flywheel and put a new bendix on the starter, worked alright for about 24 hrs then slowly began making that"noise"
Please let me hear from you.
Thanks
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[B] Well I just wanted to tell everyonr that I repairedthe starter problem on my 88 BII, I pulled the starter off and examined it closely, what I found was the bolt holes were wallowed out fron using it while the bolts were loose, remedy was simple, I got a length of 1/2 " copper tubing and sized it to the bolt holes by cutting strips out until it fit into the bolt holes, installed a new bendix and with new bolts and some locktite, put it all back together, works great.