[V6-12v] Starter Motor replacement

[Clive Young]

Thought I would give a quick run down of my starter motor replacement in
case any one fancies it. 

 

Symptom : No cranking .

The first thought it was a dead battery or alternator , but of course it was
the starter. What caught me off guard was the lights went out as I turned
the key to start it , This is usually caused by the huge current drain  for
the starter but later figured it was intentional so all current goes to the
starter. It fooled me because i thought with the lights dimming I had a
battery or alternator failure. 

 

Cause : corroded primary lead from starter solenoid to starter motor. This
is a copper stranded cable ( as more strands allow more current carrying
capability ) The down side is with the heat and where it is located and
exposure to elements it just completely corrodes away. This lead comes right
from the brushes in the motor, goes out the body of the motor and fastens
via an eyelet to the solenoid. ie the expensive bit breaks. 

 

Correction : Remove and repair primary lead , or replace starter  ( I
repaired the lead as I am really cheap ) 

 

Procedure .  ( after jacking up front of car ) 

 

1.	disconnect battery 
2.	remove top and front engine covers ( hex drive, about 5mm I think  )

3.	use 10mm hex drive to loosen tensioner. ( about 1 turn. 
4.	Below the bolt for the tensioner in the tensioner arm  is a slot to
place your 10mm hex , there is also two eyelets on the tensioner ( one on
each half of the body, the stationary and the arm ) 
5.	crank anti clockwise on 10mm drive in arm until eyelets align and
place 4mm hex drive through eyelets to hold tension. 
6.	Mark direction of acc belt and remove. 
7.	climb under car and loosen two bolt holding alternator. The lower
bolt has a nut at the back , the upper one does not. The upper one does have
a spacer so watch for this . ( Mine fell and jammed and made removing the
alternator akward. 
8.	while taking alternator  out loosen and remove 2 wires from
alternator. Small field wire about 4mm and big ass current wire. About 13mm 
9.	Remove alternator  completely and put aside. 
10.	Take a break , have a beer , you should be about an hour in. The
next part may be frustrating. 

 

You should now be able to see if your starter has the damaged main lead I
mentioned, it probably does. 

 

Now lets get started on the starter motor. 

 

1.	remove big ass current lead and small wire from ignition to starter
soledoid. Mine had a small clip holding it which quickly broke. No big deal
as it was really tight anyway. 
2.	remove lower bolt and nut from starter motor, may need an extention
or 2 for this part. 
3.	Now the tricky bit. ‘ Make sure you have a 16mm 6 point half inch
drive socket ( got mine from sears.  ) 
4.	go back to the top of  the car and remove the air duct that goes
from the MAF to the intake.   You could remove the entire maf and filter box
for ease if you wish. 
5.	The upper bolt for the starter comes from the back of the car
forward through the transmission and into the starter. You will see 2 16mm
bolts when you look down their and it is the lower one. MAKE SURE the socket
is on completely before attempting to turn. It will be REALLY tight. You
will not have room to get a breaker bar in their so your standard ½ inch
drive handle will have to do . With the car jacked up it is even harder. I
had both feet in the air braced against the garage wall with both shoulders
coming apart before the bolt gave 
 and a with most things as soon as it
moved I could undo it with my finger tips. 
6.	Remove starter , get it replaced or fixed and put it all back
together. 

 

Incidentally I took it to a shop where they tack welded on a new lead, they
over charged me for basically a wire but I am happy with the result. 

 

Good luck