Ok so i bought this Ranger a few years ago from a buddy of mines uncle. He told me it had a jasper rebuild motor an trans. he also said he thought the starter needed to be shimmed. So after i did some work i got it running by replaceing the fuel pump and it started fine. For about a year ive been starting it here an their and had no problems. I finally decided to put her on the road was driving it all day an then out of no where it stalls out while going down the road i look under the vehicle an realize one of the mounts on the starter broke off. I go to my local pepe boys and get a new starter put it in an shes runnin again but then once i shut it off an go to start it again i here the spindle come out of the start but just spin i un bolt the starter put it back up in place an crank the bolts an then it starts up again then after drive it for a few minutes it preceds to do the same thing again so i bring my buddy over to check it out an we discover that the spidnle is comin out an an hittin the flywheel instead of engageing were it is supposed to be. I go to the auto parts stores in town an they say thats the only starter that comes up in the system for my truck, 1987 2.9 liter ford ranger btw. He also said that i shouldnt need shims. Any ideas what the issue would be? I thought maybe because its a rebuilt motor but it looks like the transfer case an fly wheel are stock an their are no teeth miss off the fly wheel?

Are they the original starter bolts, and is there an inspection plate between the engine and transmission?

their is a plate and the bolt that were in their were bolts with nuts. After this problem i tap the bolts so they fit snug

starters are different from auto to manual. One has a lip. This may be the problem. I had to cut the lip off when I did my trans swap from auto to manual.

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I got the starter for the manual but they said its the same for auto and manual.

try the shims, never hurt to try, i had the same problem a few weeks back.