Can starter freeze?

It can happen. I had it happen on an old 6.9 diesel. Snow was melting and there was a huge amount of water to drive through to get to our apartment. Got really cold that night and starter froze solid, towed it to work, warmed it up and fired right up.

huskyfan68 wrote:
Im guessing it was frozen- anything I can do to prevent?

I lived in South Dakota for 23 years. We had a bunch of cars, most of them not very good cars, always parked outside in the weather that at times was down to -30 or -35 before wind chill. I never ever heard of a starter freezing. I dealt with all types of cold weather issues, but never this one. My personal opinion is that he is wrong.

I don't know about "freezing" but rain water used to get into mine but warmer temp, little freezing where I'm at. My 2003 5.4 (little brother of your V-10, should be about the same.) the rain water used to get into the motor. I glued on little tubing so when water drains down from windshield wiper area it now doesn't get on motor anymore. You'll find out how much water if you change spark plugs, a lot of rust from water on mine.

Grew up in WY with very long, COLD winters.

Never had/heard of a starter freezing.

Bad solenoids, broken teeth, bad cable connections etc.
But never frozen.

DC Motor has a LOT of torque

The only thing I can say is if water is getting into it, you need to put some type of shield over/around/under or whatever to prevent that. If you take the starter off (2 bolts & an electrical connector), you should be able to determine if water is getting into it. A frozen starter - maybe if there was water in it; but if so, how did the water get in. A starter just doesn't freeze and not work. There is nothing I know of to freeze. My better guess is, that the starter solenoid is shot. But without knowing/hearing what it sounded like when it wouldn't start compared to when it did start, and being able to look for tell tale symptoms, myself as an armchair quarterbacks can only guess.