My wife's '88 745T is starting to make a noise upon startng. Sounds to me like the gear reduction starter is worn, and the gear/bearings are making noise as they come to a stop. My guess is the lub. on these parts is dry, and there is wear. I would image sooner or later, the starter is going to fail and a replacement will be in order.

I never really liked these gear reduction starters. Makes my brick sound like a '72 Dodge Dart with a slant 6 engine or a piece of Jap C#@$. (Nothing against those old slant 6 engines. They were near industructable until Dodge messed them up with emissions control junk and poor quality control, then they ran lousy.) My '87 745T has the older style direct drive starters. Besides sounding better, I think they turn the engine over faster. As a result, I think the engines starts faster. I have always noticed the '88 takes more cranking to start than the '87. Whether or not this is strictly due to the different in the starters is open for debate, but it is an immediate observation. Will the old style direct drive starters fit in the '88 745T? They are both B230FT engines. Being that it is rather cold up here in Rochester, NY, I have not gathered up the nerve to crawl under the cars and see if there are any block or interference issues preventing the older style starters from fitting or working.

Any input and/or experience appreciated.