Dakota 4x4 3.9L Manual Trans

This is a weird one. My buddy says his starter is cracked in half. I am skeptical. I find it has broken off at the nose cone and flanges where stud/bolt goes through. I get a new starter and realize both of them have one big hole and one little hole. The big hole is so big you could rotate the starter some. Is this right? Stud/bolt is a 7/16" and the one hole is like 15/32 seems normal but the other is like 19/32. Am I missing something? Is it adjustable? Did someone swap trannys and not the starter? Does anyone have this setup but with a larger bolt on a different year? Thanks for any help.


Big hole with bolt to show gap



Little hole normal size for a 7/16 bolt/stud