New starter motor going in.

Post by **purplechugster** » 20 Oct 2006, 11:12

After my pre-holiday crisis a few weeks ago, involving a non-starting van, a starting van, a non-starting van in Devon and a visit from the RAC...

...I went back to devon a week or two later, conked out in the same car park, and got the same (very nice) RAC man to come and get me started again in the same way. It was a touch embarassing

So, Ive got hold of a nice new starter motor which should be going in this weekend. It looks fairly simple... BUT...

Can anyone who knows fill in the '...BUT...' before I start?

My motorbike engine in roughly 3000 bits in the garage is a good testament to how good I am at realising that I need a special tool halfway through a job rather than before!

Ta!

Post by **ghost123uk** » 20 Oct 2006, 13:54

Watching this thread too, as I am "in the same boat"

Fed up with having to reach through the rear wheel arch and wack the starter with a hammer 1 in 10 starts !!

Don't half get some funny looks sometimes - can be very embarrassing when it happens to our pride and joy, outside the local wine bar !!

Post by **bennwedge** » 20 Oct 2006, 23:26

id disconnect your battery terminal first, one touch with your spanner in the wrong place and you'll get sparks everwhere. then take off the red, black, and brown wires, undo the two bolts and it should come right out.

Post by **kevtherev** » 20 Oct 2006, 23:50

bennwedge wrote:id disconnect your battery terminal first, one touch with your spanner in the wrong place and you'll get sparks everwhere. then take off the red, black, and brown wires, undo the two bolts and it should come right out.

ahem I can concur about the sparking spark things

Post by **Hacksawbob** » 21 Oct 2006, 07:43

best access is with rear side jacked (and on stands!) and wheel removed. Get it high eneogh and you can comfortably sit cross legged and do the work. no special tools required just some spanners but ensure you have quality ones not the tiwanese junk. a few squirts with plus gas or wd40 over the area the night before will help. Rust will be your main bugbear as ever. round them nuts and you will make a 2 hour job into a 2 weeker. clean up the contacts so they are nice and shiny, and smear vaseline over to resist salty water ingress
what wasnt mentioned else where is that in fact your starter may be OK but the bush is worn. test the sarter motor when its off to find with
http://wiki.80-90.co.uk/index.php/Petro ... sh_removal

http://wiki.80-90.co.uk/index.php/All_e ... rter_motor

Post by **purplechugster** » 21 Oct 2006, 11:32

Ta-dah!

Hopefully Im not speaking too soon, but the new starter is in and functioning

Only took an hour, and most of that was spent trying to work out how to get the side of the starter motor past the bracket thing which runs down the left hand side. Answer was a) its a soft bit of metal and bends out the way, and b) rotate the motor from underneath the bracket, not above it.

Pop! Went in, nice and snug, reconnected the wires, reconnected the battery, reconnected all the wires I'd pulled out accidentally in other bits of the engine, and hey presto - a working engine

Saturday afternoon can now be dedicated to 'tinkering' which is so much more relaxing than 'repairing'

Post by **purplechugster** » 21 Oct 2006, 11:37

Hacksawbob wrote: what wasnt mentioned else where is that in fact your starter may be OK but the bush is worn. test the sarter motor when its off

I was reliably (??????) informed by the RAC man (twice) that in his opinion, not only was the bush worn, but the solenoid (?) was knackered AND something had broken too - the bolt that the battery cable is connected to turned as well as the nut

Me, Im too lazy and time-poor to try and work out exactly whats wrong when a relatively small amount of money can sort it!

Thanks everyone for words of wisdom

Post by **phredd** » 22 Oct 2006, 10:43

I hope you kept the old starter as it can be reconned.

Phredd :- but dont ask me how