Hi all- is the bellhousing still available for the pinto 2.3 litre to automatic box,if so does anyone know the part number?asthe problem with my starter motor seems to be that because the bellhousing had broken where the starter motor bolts on and been welded ,whoever had welded it did not weld it exactly hence the stater motor does not engage the ring gear properly allowing the starter dog to skip.Thanks to Reggie Foote for the starter reference from my previous post I was able to verify that the starter I have is original.The only other thought is if the ring gear is the right one,How many teeth should it have? Thanks

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the nice note.

As far as your AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, we should start by knowing whether it's a C3 or a C4 as both were available for the Shay as well as the donor PINTO.

The C3 was basically standard and the C4 optional.

Believe there should be a metal tag affixed to the housing for identification.

The 1979 Ford PINTO parts manual shows P/N 79DT-AA for the C3 and P/N PEJ-Y for the C4....These are the TRANSMISSION ASSEMBLY NUMBERS only and not for any detail part.

Check if you can find any of the above part numbers...More than likely, it's a C3.

Reggie

Hi again,the transmission as far as I can work out is a C4,as it appears the number of bolts on the oil pan are different between the two.If possible I need to know how many teeth the ring gear is supposed to have.But I am inclining more and more to the problem being the starter motor housing being badly repaired not allowing the starter to mesh properly(looking at it ,the starter dog only engages half the depth of the tooth of the ring gear),but before I attempt to rectify the bad repair Iwant to be sure I'm trying to get the correct parts to line up.

Mike,

I would tend to think the RING GEAR is the proper one as it's not easy to change unless the transmission has been changed.

I would focus on the STARTER itself as being the culprit..It could have been easily changed and possibly with the wrong gear.

I know this isn't the response you're looking for and I'll do some more research in my Ford manuals and if anything is found, will amend this string.

Reggie

The C3 has 13 bolts on the pan and the C4 has 11 bolts. The flexplate for the C4 has 135 teeth. The part number is D5FZ-6375-A. I am using the C4 transmission also and having problems with the starter. It doesnt seem like it engages completely but I am using the starter for the C4 with the 2.3 motor.