The braided ground wire between the solenoid and the starter housing is broken. Can this wire be spliced and connected to a nearby location? or do I have to buy a new starter?

 

damn you must live on the ocean? never seen that much rust! if it were me i'd change the whole starter, a slice won't last long in all that rust.....

 

Thanks, I wet the area with WD40 to increase the contrast for the photo. I decided to go ahead and order one

 

Wirelessly posted (Droid2)

That's alot of rust. When you get it fixed, you ought to coat it down with a little dielectric grease to keep out the moisture. May save you from doing this again later.

 

It's not a ground wire, do not connect that to ground. Buy a new starter.

 

umm clean off the rust and just splice a new connector? or replace it

 

Not sure which wire you are talking about. The copper braided wire connects to the solenoid and enters the rear edge of the starter. I just disassembled the starter, and now see that the broken wire connects to the starter brush ring. I believe that part is available from Ford, but have already ordered a replacement starter. From appearances, I think I could have replaced the brush ring with the starter still installed.