Trying to replace my starter without jacking up the car. Thought it would be a cakewalk since the top bolt's been removed previously. I removed the spade connector and the 12mm nut with only the lower to go, can I get it with just a wobble extension? Or do I need a swiveling extension/ratchet?

I stopped for the day since it's dark out and just wanted some guidance before I took it on tomorrow. I think I can actually use a straight socket if I remove the larger intake hose but the clamp on it is super stiff.

 

You can reach the bottom starter bolt easily from under the car with a wrench. Provided you can see it.

 

Starter is stupid painful to replace on this car. I'd get a jack and some stands and make it easy as possible. Manevuing it out and putting the new one in was where I had my problems.

 

I would also remove the knock sensor as it is on the side of the block and usually breaks very easily by tapping it with a ratchet etc. If you break it, its an automatic $70+ on top of whatever youre already replacing.

 

This is an absolute nightmare of an install with the majority of it being blind work.

I'm in process, does anyone know an easy way to align the starter back up with the flywheel?

from under the car, I can't rotate it enough to get it to bite, from the top I can't see the bolt i'm trying to turn to start the threads.

If I align the starter from the top, I can't get it to stay in place so that I could turn in the bolt from the bottom.

 

I thought the cheapest knock sensor for this car was like $140 or something?

 

Used knock sensor?

 

You can use knock sensors from other cars that are substantially cheaper to use. However, no one really knows if the frequencies are comparable and/or the same and to what degree they are or aren't the same.


As for my issue, I resolved it after several hours wrestling with it. Turns out the original owner replaced the starter and left the upper starter bolt lying on the transmission (it was loosely just sitting below the starter). Since the starter was a blind install, it got tucked in a position in which it prevented the starter from connecting to the transmission by about a quarter inch. I removed the starter and was feeling around (since I couldn't see it from underneath) and found the loose bolt simply sitting there.

Took about 15 minutes to reinstall everything after that loose bolt was out of the way.

 

A buddy of mine worked at napa and got me a discount on one, didn't feel like taking time to look up actual cost. I know people advise against using sensors other than oem but it worked perfect for over a year before swapping motors.

Glad you got it done, OP.