starter motor dead how do u fit a new one?

[PaRaDoX]

hey guys,
i had to witness a very sad thing today... life just sucks for me,
had my starter motor die on me today, car wouldnt crank over, would click a few times with a whack or 2 but in the end no luck, had to get it towed home.... was ment to vitist my EX girlfriend to try and work things out but god just dosnt like me

anyway, down to buisness... good news, my mates dad has 3 vn engines at his house (hes building a new car)

anyway he has a reco'd starter motor he brought and never used, hes selling it to me for $30, does anyone know if the steering rack has to come out to replace it??? im gonna atempt it tommororw, the cars at my house now so yeah, apart from jacking the car up anything else i need to be careful of??? or if anyones done this before i need a guide on how to do it... cheers!!!!

[VN-88]

hmm well as far as i can think from my manual conversion u belive u would have to remove ur bellhousing to take it of because im not sure if u can reach the bolts. but if u can reach them, just undo all wires, undo the bolts on it and remove ur manifold. then u should be able to slide it out and just do the rest in reverse. hope this helps

[sircruisealotVS]

thats sucks man, sorry to hear. i was just wondering whether you had any signs of it going before today?...like a slow crank or something.
reason is my car always had a "once in a blue moon" slow first crank then it would go normal and start....but now its getting more regular.
sometimes it wont crank for like 2-3 secs after turning the key, although turning the key to accessories first for a second or two makes it start perfect everytime.
sorry i cant really help you out with your question, but you situation is one id like to try and avoid...so i was curious as to whether this sort of stuff happened to you before it died.

[PaRaDoX]

yep, had signs lots of em,
for isntance
all of last weekend wouldnt crank, then id leave it and come back and it'd work,

it started off as a slow crank and just got worse, to the point where it wouldnt crank any more...

it looks easily accessable if the car is raised, my mates dad has a big mofo of a jack that will keep the car up and stable and should enable me to remove the starter motor

[CSL]

yeah dude it's a price of piss. oh hold on you have a series 1. with series 2's all you have to do is unbolt all the wiring, then undo the 2 19mm bolts and ease it out, mabye drop the rack i cant remember but the rack is only 2 19mm bolts and nuts aswell so dont fret, just make sure if you do drop the rack that you lock the power steerig first

[VN-88]

i had about 1 foot or alittle higher wooden blocks. they worked great and they were about 1 metre long so i trusted them. i really dont trust jacks by them self as i mates dad was under his car and my mates little bro walked past and twisted the handle on the jack not nowing anythng would happened. crushed his chest and punchered his lung. so please oh please put extra supports under it

[VN-88]

by the way mine was s1 it was on the other wide of the steering collumn and the steering rack wasnt in the way

[PaRaDoX]

cheers VN-88 good idea,

yeah its inbetween the sump and headers i can see a few bolts and it looks like its gonna be a peice of piss once im under there, the bolts dont look rusted or even covered in crap so looks like im in luck ill let you know how it goes, would bricks work insted of wood??? like if i dropped the chassis at the jacking points onto them gently???

cheers fella's

[VN-88]

yeah it would be better then nothing. even wen im changing tyres with a jack i chuck the tyre im not using under the axle. or if im working on brakes ect. anything as just an emergancy will do. or even use the jack but have bricks there incase it drops

[maginoodle]

run it up on a ramp or something. i have put one wheel up on the footpath before to get under a car.

[PaRaDoX]

trying to make do with what i have, i hear ya with the spare tyre thing, i do the same all the time

as for a ramp, i dont really have one...

i just realised ive got 2 more posts than vn-88 lol congrats on the 800th (probbly quallity) posts

[chopsy]

Before you go changing it make sure it's buggerd because awhile ago i had the same problem and i went and brought another stater. Which was a waste of time check that all your wiring is on tight especially where it conects to the starter motor.I'd turn key then afew seconds later it would crank over then somtimes it would'nt at all then 10 mins or even an hour later she would kick over no problem.

[geta]

make sure its not the battery either.

[PaRaDoX]

tried it, starter HAS been identified as the problem, the solonoid is dead, got a replacement reco one for $30 today

got showed how to do it, gotta unbolt headers and remove them, then from there it should be easy to remove it, nice job for tommorrow

[maginoodle]

tried it, starter HAS been identified as the problem, the solonoid is dead, got a replacement reco one for $30 today

got showed how to do it, gotta unbolt headers and remove them, then from there it should be easy to remove it, nice job for tommorrow

you should be able to get the starter out without taking your headers off unless they are aftermarket headers.

[PaRaDoX]

yeah, but as i was showed today, its a pain the fkn ass, you have to fiddle around near the steering rack, headers are easy to remove anyway,

my mates dad is a legend, he gave me all the tools i need (to borow, sockets n shit) and even a can of wd40 lol

[PaRaDoX]

all done, car starts fine

was a pain in the ass, borrowed some car stands, used them in conjunction with the jack, no chance it was gonna fall on me......

the old starter motor wasnt the original... was smaller... still bosch but just diffrent, only had the 2 bolts at the end... the new one had 3 bolts soo... yeah extractors had to come off, they wernt hard to remove...

anyone trying to atempt this... remember to take a picture or write down the spark plug configuration.. .spent 20 mins figuring out the firing order before

got a look at my fly wheel... didnt look too good, probbly need a new on in the next year or so... wasnt too bad but...

thinking of upgrading the flywheel/torque converter... thinking 2500-3000rpm stall, whatchya think??? what brands are good???

[VN-88]

glad too see you managed to do it ok. aslong as u had fun doing it and learnt some stuff other wise its not worth doing things your self. but yeah its an easy job to do wen u no wat ur doing. uve got a few more post then me now. keyboard ahsnt been working lately so its been hard to post.

and as for the up greade i dont no any good brands but any decent mod is always good

[GLDNVL]

Hrmmmm Well I gotta question too, I dunno if its my Starter Motor, I go to turn it over, and it makes that terrible errhhhhh sound.
What is it?, the Starter Motor or the "Flexplate"/Fywheel.
BTW, its a 91 VQ Statesman 5.0.