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How to Change a Starter Motor

wason

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Here are the Instructions for a VZ V6 Auto. Dit it today. Improvents welcome xo
Disconnect the negative terminal on the battery and insulate the lug with tape.
Jack up car and put the front end on stands.
Take off the exhaust manifold cover (3 bolts 13mm).
Unbolt the 2 nuts on the lower end of the exhaust manifold 13mm
Unbolt the 7 bolts holding the manifold to the engine block 13mm
remove the exhaust manifold and the metal plate gasket
remove the starter motor cover 1 star bolt (size T25)
pull the starter cover off. It requires quick a tug.
pull the smaller lead off the starter motor and insulate its end with tape
undo nut (13mm spanner) for the larger lead from starter motor
pull of the lead and insulate its end with tape
undo the 2 bolts on the starter motor that holds it on. do the bottom one first from underneath the car then the top one from above the bonnet. Do it in this order so you are not underneith the car when it comes off. (7/16 ring spanner or 7/16 socket that is star shaped inside)
Pull the starter motor out.
Slide new one in and put it all back together in reverse.
 

Kaylee12

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Hey, no pictures but its just self explainitory, posted this for someone else but tought i may aswell throw it up for anyone else who dosnt want to pay $400 for a starter motor installed, you can use a reco/used one like i did if you need your car back on the road.. ok here it is

1st step start by disconnecting the battery, remove the spark plugs but write down a diagram of where they were so you dont get struck apon re-assembly, jack the car up and put it on stands, this is a MUST because of what u have to do... use a socket set, dont try using a spanner you wont get the torque you require, borrow one if u have to,

2nd step
jack the car up and put it on stands on the jacking points on both side of the engine, now unbolt the headers at the head, there should be 6 bolts, without a socket wrench kit this will be VERY hard, then get under the car and soak the bolts with wd40 that join the headers to the exhust, let it sit for 5-10 mins then undo the bolts

3rd step
unbolt the starter motor (from under the car there is 2 verticle bolts, get the LONGEST handle socket wrech u can get or this is NEAR inpossible (trust me had to buy one when i did it) from there there is one more bolt on the block, horizontol at the other end of the starter motor..

4th step
Unwire the starter motor, this is pretty self explainatary, copy how the old one was wired up

5th step you can either shield ALL spark cables and crank it over, WARNING, if you dont have leads/the ends shielded you can do some serious damage to things, make sure NONE are touching the chassis, when i did mine i left the leads off and there was arching between the coils on the coil pack, must have been around 30,000V (not much current)

6th step With your new starter motor working fine, bolt the headers back on, put the spark leads back in, and reconnect the battery


PLEASE make sure the bat is always disconnected before you work on the car, its easy to forget after testing if it cranks....

hope this helps someone
 

Kaylee12

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Hi once i unbolts the header on the head do i need to buy seal to go with the head
 

rambunctious

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Here are the Instructions for a VZ V6 Auto. Dit it today. Improvents welcome xo
Disconnect the negative terminal on the battery and insulate the lug with tape.
Jack up car and put the front end on stands.
Take off the exhaust manifold cover (3 bolts 13mm).
Unbolt the 2 nuts on the lower end of the exhaust manifold 13mm
Unbolt the 7 bolts holding the manifold to the engine block 13mm
remove the exhaust manifold and the metal plate gasket
remove the starter motor cover 1 star bolt (size T25)
pull the starter cover off. It requires quick a tug.
pull the smaller lead off the starter motor and insulate its end with tape
undo nut (13mm spanner) for the larger lead from starter motor
pull of the lead and insulate its end with tape
undo the 2 bolts on the starter motor that holds it on. do the bottom one first from underneath the car then the top one from above the bonnet. Do it in this order so you are not underneith the car when it comes off. (7/16 ring spanner or 7/16 socket that is star shaped inside)
Pull the starter motor out.
Slide new one in and put it all back together in reverse.

This has been written up a number of times, and I have done 4 of these now and never jacked the car up or removed the exhaust manifold, so I will write it up as I did it.


VZ V6 Starter remove replace.
Best done when engine is cold.

Remove key from ignition.
Remove both battery terminals, and push the battery leads down the side of the battery out of the way.
Undo the 3 torque bolts holding the aluminium exhaust cover using a torque fitting T25 I believe.
Undo the starter cover bolt and pull the cover off. It clamps over the starter, not hard to remove.
Loosen the 2 torque bolts holding the starter using a socket or ring spanner, 10 or 13mm, cannot remember.
You will need to feel the underside bolt, or use a mirror to see it.
Once the bolts are loose, wriggle the starter while undoing the bolts with your fingers.
Pull starter forward and out as far as you can and undo the main cable, 10mm I think.
Pull the starter wire off the pin.
Remove starter.

Check new starter is same as old starter.
Fit main cable and starter wire to new starter, then push starter into place and fit bolts.
Again, wriggle starter while doing bolts up with your fingers.
Tighten starter bolts.
Fit starter cover and holding bolt.
DO NOT fit exhaust cover, just in case you have Chinese problem (sumtin wong)
Fit main cable to battery.
Fit earth cable to battery checking for any large sparks.
A small spark is normal.
Insert key and hope it starts.
Turn it off quickly so the exhaust does not get too hot.
Replace exhaust cover.


Total time first time I did one was 45 minutes which included a beer during this time.
Second time I did one was 30 minutes and no beer.
 
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danoz vt vz

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OMG lads remove nothing but the air box and passengers front wheel for access after batterys disconnected put on stands.you can fit a rattle gun in up near passengers manifold whilst laying on the ground..surly a socket with extension fits.Why you would remove manifold leads steering racks has me stumped.why create more work
 

mpower

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OMG lads remove nothing but the air box and passengers front wheel for access after batterys disconnected put on stands.you can fit a rattle gun in up near passengers manifold whilst laying on the ground..surly a socket with extension fits.Why you would remove manifold leads steering racks has me stumped.why create more work

VT V6?

I removed mine from under the car and didn't pull anything off.
 

Robert W.

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You should be able to get to the starter motor without removing anything else. it's a bit more difficult not seeing exactly what you are doing but easier then removing the exhaust or steering rack.

Staring rack involes two boltes for the rack itself to the sub frame, the two tie rod ends to the hubs/wheels. the powersteer lines, then bleeding the system one reistalled and the steering linkage for the steering wheel itself to remove.

The exhaust is about the same because there are the bolts on the head and the exhaust flange. BUT from experience from work, exhaust bolts are normally very hard to remove because they are treated to extreme heat conditions they seem to seize up very often. they also rust the studs at the flange normally so be very careful not to snap/break the bolts when removing or it will be very difficult to fix.
well i did mine today and i took the air intake pipe off then the manifold and it was piss easy to do
Did some of the VQ's come out with T 700 transmission's ?
 

Robert W.

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OMG lads remove nothing but the air box and passengers front wheel for access after batterys disconnected put on stands.you can fit a rattle gun in up near passengers manifold whilst laying on the ground..surly a socket with extension fits.Why you would remove manifold leads steering racks has me stumped.why create more work
I will try that . Thanks :)
 

George51

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I've been told to jack front of car put on stands unbolt engine mount on same side of starter motor unbolt starter replace it ect...
 
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