ENG: Replacing Starter

[arrozburner]

Tools:
12mm socket
14mm socket
17mm socket
Ratchet

This isn’t hard to do at all but again, do it at your own risk…if you manage to blow up your car while doing this it is not my fault…so now, on to the DIY

1. Disconnect the battery (if you don’t know how to do this, stop right now and go back into your cave)

2. Disconnect the clip (top circle) and remove the bolt the is connected to the battery (bottom circle)



3. Remove the two bolts that hold the starter to the tranny and the starter should fall right off



4. Installation is the reverse of removal.

[cp[mike]]

note: for the automatics, the two bolts that hold it on are 14mm's. for the manuals, one is 14mm and the other is a 17mm.

nice DIY, just the first pic is hard to see. but its not hard to figure out, disconnect the two wires... the small black one pulls off, and the heavy one comes off when u remove the nut.

[FishyMan]

how would it blow up?

thanks though..

[i_love_cb7]

Thats it??? take it off and bolt new one on???

Wow, Honda charged me $350 to replace a starter, next time I'm hitting the junkyard......

nice DIY with nice pics!!

[arrozburner]

whoa! you got screwed...thats why i started doing stuff on my own cuz labor is what kills and not necessarily the price of the items...the starter cost me about ~$50 new

[FishyMan]

Do you guys have an estimate as to when a starter would poop out?

MY OEM one has lasted about 88k and now has recently started to throw in the white flag.

[arrozburner]

i think if you buy them at auto zone you get a lifetime warranty...just get it from there and you dint have to worry about buying another one...but they due tend to last a while

[Losiracer2]

damn, this is easier than an oil change it seems...but not cheaper

[bishpuppy]

damn, this is easier than an oil change it seems...but not cheaper

Hey man, i was paying around $70-80 for an oil change at Jiffy Lube. But since summer is coming, is time to do it myself. so in my case, replacing a starter is cheaper than a oil change.

How would i know if my starter needs to be replaced (besides the car not starting -- mine starts, just curious)

[texasvtak]

Hey man, i was paying around $70-80 for an oil change at Jiffy Lube.

Is that dollars or yen?! For that kinda money you better be getting the "full service" if you know what I mean

[bishpuppy]

full service? HA i wish.
but seriously, how would i know if my starter needs to be replaced. Only reason i ask is because, my car, when you start it, u hear the engine crack it starts and then shuts off and i have to re do the whole starting part and it starts on the 2nd try [usually when is cold].

I'm going to replace the Battery and Spark Plugs just in case, but i'm not sure if that would be consider as my starter is going bad.

[HF22T]

i cant believe there is actually a diy for this

[Mjfan12]

starters are cake in most cases. My friend and I swapped one in my mr2, but the bottom bolt was a biatch to get to. had to do it from the bottom.

the bolts were on tight so the best advice I can possible give you is to buy a breaker bar. or if you're too cheap (like me) find a foot long steel rod or tube that you can put over the ratcher/wrench handle, and that will give you increased leverage (simple physics) and the bolt that you thought was impossible to loosen, will be off in 2 seconds!

we struggled for 2 days trying to muscle it off! we were idiots, it took us 2 seconds after we realized what we could do with a ghetto breaker bar!

[BlackPearl2006]

NOT easier than oil change.....

Just a note, as simple as the proceedure may be, replacing the starter can still be a beyotch.

If you have A/C, the task is a bit harder because the A/C lines are in the way and give you that much LESS room to turn your breaker bar on the bottom bolt.

Also, as mentioned, some cars will have two 14mm bolts, and others, like my 91 EX manual with a MITSUBA starter, have a 14mm bolt on top, and a BEYOTCH 17mm bolt on the bottom. That bottom bolt is a killer. You REALLY need a breaker bar and a pipe or something for extra leverage, and maybe even some PB blaster for that bolt if it's never been removed for the life of the car before.

Also, I found even with all that knowledge, there STILL wasn't enough room to get enough arc for the breaker bar to even budge the lower 17mm bolt because there's a long skinny 10mm bolt in the way. The starter has 2 long 10mm bolts that bolt in from the left side and bridge their way across the length of the starter all the way into the starter base. You'll have to remove the top 10mm long bolt anyway because it also holds a radiator hose bracket that you'll need to transplant onto your new starter. Go ahead and also remove the BOTTOM 10mm long bolt as well. This will give you just enough more clearance that you'll need to get enough arc to move that lower 17mm BEYOTCH BOLT.

I Hope this additional info helps others out. I had to learn it the hard way.

[NAiL05]

I havent had any issues taking mine out hitting the AC lines??? I used a deep socket and a mini extension (forgot) and I had anough clearance to break the bolt then went at it with a 3/8 drive socket. Snap on flex head breaker bar = win.