Counting teeth - SOLVED

Hi All

Thought I had chased the last of the gremlins away by replacing all the brake components and suspension bushings but on my shakedown run, my starter has failed. Not a complete surprise as it has given a couple of hints in the past.

Whilst looking for a new one, I see there are multiple options depending on tooth count on the flywheel. It had a Saginaw 4 speed fitted at some point but I guess this would not require a change of flywheel.

So, any idea of how many teeth on the 'standard' flywheel or should I just try to count teeth?

Thanks as always!

Which engine do you have?

Hi Donivan - I have a 250.
After some trawling of Hot Rod sites, it seems that if my starter has parallel bolt holes it is a 153 tooth flywheel and offset holes would be a 168 - and the flywheel is unlikely or not possible to swap from one to the other.
Fortunately I can get one in the UK, its about four times the price as an identical one in the US but shipping and import tax would take care of some of that, plus I can be on the road again this week hopefully.

There are only a few things that go wrong with a starter, most are repairable,,,,,have you bypassed the solenoid to see if starter spins,,,,,,does the starter just click when you turn the key or do nothing at all,,,,,,does it grind,,,,,,,,,a bad solenoid, brushes or bushings are the most common problems, maybe the drive, that you can repair,,,,,,,,if,,,,,,,,,,,you think the starter has a problem,,,,,,,

Thanks Donivan
Yup, I've bypassed the solenoid and even run some temporary fresh wiring as the problem was intermittent at first. I would say it is internal to the motor, so I will replace the unit then rebuild the old one at my leisure - the difficulty comes from the delay getting repair parts - only a tiny bit of Summer left!
I've tried to preempt  things like brakes by buying repair kits for everything ahead of time but when I get around to looking at that job, it usually requires either more parts or complete replacement so it saves time if not money to get new then rebuild the old in my downtime.

Ok,,,,,,if you dont think it just needs the brushes changed,,,,,,

I'll crack it open at the weekend and take a look...

Ok,,,, if you bypassed the solenoid by touching the positive battery terminal to the motor terminal  with a screwdriver and the starter wont spin, then brushes sure are the next thing to check,,,,I think you can probably just unscrew and take off the end plate to see the brushes without taking the starter off,,,,,,

It's off at the moment and will have years of leaked engine oil cleaned away before I investigate...