As the middle sibling between the hot-selling F-150 and the heavy-duty F-350, the F-250 is often left out of discussions, but it may be the best balanced of the group. The F-250 offers buyers more towing and payload capacity than its smaller brother without the sheer massiveness of the F-350. Replacing the starter on your 1997 F-250's base 4.6-liter engine is simple, but you need to disconnect the battery to avoid damaging the electrical system in the event of a short.
Park your F-250 on a flat surface, and wedge wheel chocks behind its rear wheels. Connect a memory saver to the truck, according to the memory saver's instruction manual. Open the hood and loosen the negative battery cable end with a ratchet and socket. Pull the negative battery cable from the battery and tuck it to the side. Lift the front of the pickup with a floor jack and set jack stands under the frame rails just behind the front wheels. Lower the truck onto the jack stands.
Crawl under the F-250 and find the starter motor on the passenger side, where the engine and transmission connect. Pull the plastic protective shield from the solenoid on the top of the starter. Mark the three wires connected to the starter, using masking tape and a permanent marker, so you can install them onto the new starter correctly.
Remove the nuts holding each of the three wires to the starter, using a ratchet and socket, and pull the wires from the starter. Remove the two bolts securing the starter to the transmission bell housing, using a ratchet and socket, and pull the starter away from the bell housing to remove it. Use care -- the starter is deceptively heavy.
Align the new starter with the hole in the transmission bell housing, and guide it into place -- you may need to wiggle and twist the starter to get it to seat flush against the bell housing. Hand-thread the starter bolts, and torque them to between 16 and 20 foot-pounds, using a torque wrench and socket.
Connect the three wires to the rear of the starter and hand-tighten their retaining nuts. Remove the maskeing tape from each wire. Tighten the retaining nuts for the three wires to between 61 and 79 inch-pounds, using an inch-pound torque wrench and socket. Press the plastic shield back over the rear of the starter solenoid.
Raise the truck off of the jack stands with a floor jack. Remove the jack stands and lower the truck to the ground. Reinstall the battery cable and snug the cable end, then unplug the memory saver. Remove the wheel chocks from behind the rear wheels.
