Starter Replacement
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 970
Likes: 2
You removed the starter without touching anything else? Can you elaborate?
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 910
Likes: 3
From: lakes region NH
From underneath the car just swivel joint an extension and a 3/8 ratchet
You can't see what you're doing I just did it by feel
I did it while doing the tranny swap so the cradle was dropped 3" I'm sure that is a factor.
You can't see what you're doing I just did it by feel
I did it while doing the tranny swap so the cradle was dropped 3" I'm sure that is a factor.
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 970
Likes: 2
Interesting. I'm not as comfortable around the engine bay so that probably won't work for me.
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
I know this is an old thread but I'm having trouble pulling my starter out. I am stuck on part 8) Remove other cable (spade connector - above power cable - you cant really see it - it pulls straight off, dont need to press anything) I can feel a wire but can't tell if its the right one, but this wire will not pull off easily and I don't want to break the wrong wire. Doesn't anyone have a diagram or pictures?
Originally Posted by krazik
Had to replace the starter in my 00 street car this past weekend. (@95k miles) I didnt find any threads that talked about the process, so.....
Dont follow the helms tho. It over simplfies the whole thing and isnt really correct.
First off if youve had your tranny out for any reason you might be like me and never put the top starter bolt back in. Its not needed and Ive not run w/ one on both my street and race cars for years. If this is the case ignore the helms completely and just skip to step #4
If you have both bolts in the starter, again dont follow the helms completely.
**** Disconnect Battery ****
1) Remove Intake
2) Remove Accessory Belt
3) Remove top bolt of Alternator, losen lower and rotate away so you can get to the top starter bolt. (see any tranny removal thread) Remove bolt with long extension.
----
4) Remove intake support bracket (black bar) bolt (14mm on back/top of intake manifold) - Push water hose out of clip.
5) Jack up car, put on stands. (I did front only)
6) Unclip wire harnesses from intake support bracket, remove lower 14mm bolt and remove.
7) Remove power cable from back of starter. 12mm under rubber boot.
8) Remove other cable (spade connector - above power cable - you cant really see it - it pulls straight off, dont need to press anything)
9) Note the position of the knock sensor - the cable that you just took off with the spade connector shares wires with the knock sensor so its easy to spot. It has a green plastic ring on it too. The knock sensor is plastic and brittle. Dont break it. Seriously, its easy to do and a bitch to replace when the engine is in the car. (I didnt this time, but have broken it on other engine swaps).
10) Remove both 10mm bolts to fuel line bracket on frame where the hardline connects to the flexible one. This will give you more wiggle room to get the starter out.
11) Remove 14mm lower starter bolt. I used a 3/8s breaker bar and deep socket. It was the perfect length. Starter is now loose.
12) Back starter out of hole in block while paying attention to the knock sensor.
13) Twist and rotate starter to get it out. Takes a little time and finesse. Dont forget about that knock sensor.
14) Reverse steps to put it all back together. Getting the spade connector back on is a little bit of a pain because you cant see it. But just lay there on your back and fiddle with it. Youll get it eventually.
Have a beer & enjoy.
Shared
Dont follow the helms tho. It over simplfies the whole thing and isnt really correct.
First off if youve had your tranny out for any reason you might be like me and never put the top starter bolt back in. Its not needed and Ive not run w/ one on both my street and race cars for years. If this is the case ignore the helms completely and just skip to step #4
If you have both bolts in the starter, again dont follow the helms completely.
**** Disconnect Battery ****
1) Remove Intake
2) Remove Accessory Belt
3) Remove top bolt of Alternator, losen lower and rotate away so you can get to the top starter bolt. (see any tranny removal thread) Remove bolt with long extension.
----
4) Remove intake support bracket (black bar) bolt (14mm on back/top of intake manifold) - Push water hose out of clip.
5) Jack up car, put on stands. (I did front only)
6) Unclip wire harnesses from intake support bracket, remove lower 14mm bolt and remove.
7) Remove power cable from back of starter. 12mm under rubber boot.
8) Remove other cable (spade connector - above power cable - you cant really see it - it pulls straight off, dont need to press anything)
9) Note the position of the knock sensor - the cable that you just took off with the spade connector shares wires with the knock sensor so its easy to spot. It has a green plastic ring on it too. The knock sensor is plastic and brittle. Dont break it. Seriously, its easy to do and a bitch to replace when the engine is in the car. (I didnt this time, but have broken it on other engine swaps).
10) Remove both 10mm bolts to fuel line bracket on frame where the hardline connects to the flexible one. This will give you more wiggle room to get the starter out.
11) Remove 14mm lower starter bolt. I used a 3/8s breaker bar and deep socket. It was the perfect length. Starter is now loose.
12) Back starter out of hole in block while paying attention to the knock sensor.
13) Twist and rotate starter to get it out. Takes a little time and finesse. Dont forget about that knock sensor.
14) Reverse steps to put it all back together. Getting the spade connector back on is a little bit of a pain because you cant see it. But just lay there on your back and fiddle with it. Youll get it eventually.
Have a beer & enjoy.
Shared
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 15
Likes: 1
I also know this is an old thread, but it is the one stickied in the DIY section, and was the most helpful for me replacing my starter yesterday. There's another newer thread which has some line drawings, but I think that thread is missing a whole bunch of detail. I'm a relative newbie, but I've replaced an Accord timing belt and water pump, so I'm getting pretty good at auto repair. YMMV.
I wanted to add a few pointers to the instructions that I think might be helpful to the next guy. My comments are in bold below.
**** Disconnect Battery ****
1) Remove Intake air box/filter, not the manifold
2) Remove Accessory Belt There are instructions elsewhere, but breaker bar on tensioner counter-clockwise, slide belt off smooth pulley near middle. Make sure you have a good amount of room for the breaker bar to rotate back after releasing the belt.
3) Remove top bolt of Alternator, loosen lower and rotate away so you can get to the top starter bolt. (see any tranny removal thread) Remove starter bolt with long extension. I actually removed the alternator (not sure it was necessary), but there is another DIY for that. A prybar made it easy. To remove the top starter bolt, I got a bit creative. I used about 2 feet of 3/8" extensions with a swivel on the end near the 14mm socket. I secured the extensions, swivel and socket to each other with electrical tape, plus wrapped electrical tape around the swivel to make it less floppy. I stood at the front of the car and had a helper below holding an iPhone in camera mode so that I could see the iPhone screen and the screen was displaying the upper alternator bolt. Then it was just a matter of moving the socket contraption slowly to let the screen catch up with its location. We found the best position for the iPhone was directly below the path of the socket extensions, perhaps halfway to the starter between all of the hoses. You will have to work on getting a good spot so you can see enough of the screen.
----
4) Remove intake support bracket (black bar) bolt (14mm on back/top of intake manifold) - Push water hose out of clip. This is a black bar that runs vertically near the back of the engine. It will be fairly obvious when you are below the car working on the starter, so you can always come back to this step once you see it on the bottom.
5) Jack up car, put on stands. (I did front only) I used jackstands on the front side jack points, plus slid ramps under the front wheels.
Now you are working primarily underneath the car. Obviously I had already jacked up the car for my helper to fit underneath with the iPhone in step 3.
6) Unclip wire harnesses from intake support bracket, remove lower 14mm bolt and remove. This is the same black vertical bar as in step 4. There are 3 wire harnesses attached to this bar, but they slide off easily. I think I had my helper up top remove them and we slide the bracket up to remove it.
7) Remove power cable from back of starter. 12mm under rubber boot.
8) Remove other cable (spade connector - above power cable - you can't really see it - it pulls straight off, don't need to press anything) I know the last guy was asking about this, but that was a year ago, so hopefully he figured it out by now. It is a rubber-booted 1/4" spade connector with a 90 degree bend in the wire right at the spade bit. Look at your new starter to see the position, reach up there and pull the wire out.
9) Note the position of the knock sensor - the cable that you just took off with the spade connector shares wires with the knock sensor so its easy to spot. It has a green plastic ring on it too. The knock sensor is plastic and brittle. Don't break it. Seriously, its easy to do and a bitch to replace when the engine is in the car. (I didn't this time, but have broken it on other engine swaps). I didn't break mine either!
10) Remove both 10mm bolts to fuel line bracket on frame where the hardline connects to the flexible one. This will give you more wiggle room to get the starter out. While you are at it, disconnect the two ground straps with the same 10mm socket.
11) Remove 14mm lower starter bolt. I used a 3/8's breaker bar and deep socket. It was the perfect length. Starter is now loose.
12) Back starter out of hole in block while paying attention to the knock sensor.
13) Twist and rotate starter to get it out. Takes a little time and finesse. Don't forget about that knock sensor. I pushed some large wiring bundles up and had my helper hold them up from above. I think my general method involved dropping the ass end of the starter down first, then rotating the assembly around so the solenoid and mounting bracket get through the opening. That fuel line from step 9 keeps getting in the way. I had to continue to push it out of the way.
14) Reverse steps to put it all back together. Getting the spade connector back on is a little bit of a pain because you can't see it. But just lay there on your back and fiddle with it. You'll get it eventually. That spade connector took a bit of time, but I got it in. When you are reinstalling the upper starter bolt, use the same technique in step 3, except electrical-tape the bolt to the socket as well. Don't forget the ground straps if you disconnected them.
I wanted to add a few pointers to the instructions that I think might be helpful to the next guy. My comments are in bold below.
**** Disconnect Battery ****
1) Remove Intake air box/filter, not the manifold
2) Remove Accessory Belt There are instructions elsewhere, but breaker bar on tensioner counter-clockwise, slide belt off smooth pulley near middle. Make sure you have a good amount of room for the breaker bar to rotate back after releasing the belt.
3) Remove top bolt of Alternator, loosen lower and rotate away so you can get to the top starter bolt. (see any tranny removal thread) Remove starter bolt with long extension. I actually removed the alternator (not sure it was necessary), but there is another DIY for that. A prybar made it easy. To remove the top starter bolt, I got a bit creative. I used about 2 feet of 3/8" extensions with a swivel on the end near the 14mm socket. I secured the extensions, swivel and socket to each other with electrical tape, plus wrapped electrical tape around the swivel to make it less floppy. I stood at the front of the car and had a helper below holding an iPhone in camera mode so that I could see the iPhone screen and the screen was displaying the upper alternator bolt. Then it was just a matter of moving the socket contraption slowly to let the screen catch up with its location. We found the best position for the iPhone was directly below the path of the socket extensions, perhaps halfway to the starter between all of the hoses. You will have to work on getting a good spot so you can see enough of the screen.
----
4) Remove intake support bracket (black bar) bolt (14mm on back/top of intake manifold) - Push water hose out of clip. This is a black bar that runs vertically near the back of the engine. It will be fairly obvious when you are below the car working on the starter, so you can always come back to this step once you see it on the bottom.
5) Jack up car, put on stands. (I did front only) I used jackstands on the front side jack points, plus slid ramps under the front wheels.
Now you are working primarily underneath the car. Obviously I had already jacked up the car for my helper to fit underneath with the iPhone in step 3.
6) Unclip wire harnesses from intake support bracket, remove lower 14mm bolt and remove. This is the same black vertical bar as in step 4. There are 3 wire harnesses attached to this bar, but they slide off easily. I think I had my helper up top remove them and we slide the bracket up to remove it.
7) Remove power cable from back of starter. 12mm under rubber boot.
8) Remove other cable (spade connector - above power cable - you can't really see it - it pulls straight off, don't need to press anything) I know the last guy was asking about this, but that was a year ago, so hopefully he figured it out by now. It is a rubber-booted 1/4" spade connector with a 90 degree bend in the wire right at the spade bit. Look at your new starter to see the position, reach up there and pull the wire out.
9) Note the position of the knock sensor - the cable that you just took off with the spade connector shares wires with the knock sensor so its easy to spot. It has a green plastic ring on it too. The knock sensor is plastic and brittle. Don't break it. Seriously, its easy to do and a bitch to replace when the engine is in the car. (I didn't this time, but have broken it on other engine swaps). I didn't break mine either!
10) Remove both 10mm bolts to fuel line bracket on frame where the hardline connects to the flexible one. This will give you more wiggle room to get the starter out. While you are at it, disconnect the two ground straps with the same 10mm socket.
11) Remove 14mm lower starter bolt. I used a 3/8's breaker bar and deep socket. It was the perfect length. Starter is now loose.
12) Back starter out of hole in block while paying attention to the knock sensor.
13) Twist and rotate starter to get it out. Takes a little time and finesse. Don't forget about that knock sensor. I pushed some large wiring bundles up and had my helper hold them up from above. I think my general method involved dropping the ass end of the starter down first, then rotating the assembly around so the solenoid and mounting bracket get through the opening. That fuel line from step 9 keeps getting in the way. I had to continue to push it out of the way.
14) Reverse steps to put it all back together. Getting the spade connector back on is a little bit of a pain because you can't see it. But just lay there on your back and fiddle with it. You'll get it eventually. That spade connector took a bit of time, but I got it in. When you are reinstalling the upper starter bolt, use the same technique in step 3, except electrical-tape the bolt to the socket as well. Don't forget the ground straps if you disconnected them.
Registered User
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 594
Likes: 24
From: Pittsburgh
^Good tips.
Anyone tried to just lube the gears inside the starter? VW guys have a similar problem with screeching when cold and some of them do that.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...or-Replacement
Anyone tried to just lube the gears inside the starter? VW guys have a similar problem with screeching when cold and some of them do that.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...or-Replacement
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,893
Likes: 160
From: Fremont, CA
I also know this is an old thread, but it is the one stickied in the DIY section, and was the most helpful for me replacing my starter yesterday. There's another newer thread which has some line drawings, but I think that thread is missing a whole bunch of detail. I'm a relative newbie, but I've replaced an Accord timing belt and water pump, so I'm getting pretty good at auto repair. YMMV.
I wanted to add a few pointers to the instructions that I think might be helpful to the next guy. My comments are in bold below.
**** Disconnect Battery ****
1) Remove Intake air box/filter, not the manifold
2) Remove Accessory Belt There are instructions elsewhere, but breaker bar on tensioner counter-clockwise, slide belt off smooth pulley near middle. Make sure you have a good amount of room for the breaker bar to rotate back after releasing the belt.
3) Remove top bolt of Alternator, loosen lower and rotate away so you can get to the top starter bolt. (see any tranny removal thread) Remove starter bolt with long extension. I actually removed the alternator (not sure it was necessary), but there is another DIY for that. A prybar made it easy. To remove the top starter bolt, I got a bit creative. I used about 2 feet of 3/8" extensions with a swivel on the end near the 14mm socket. I secured the extensions, swivel and socket to each other with electrical tape, plus wrapped electrical tape around the swivel to make it less floppy. I stood at the front of the car and had a helper below holding an iPhone in camera mode so that I could see the iPhone screen and the screen was displaying the upper alternator bolt. Then it was just a matter of moving the socket contraption slowly to let the screen catch up with its location. We found the best position for the iPhone was directly below the path of the socket extensions, perhaps halfway to the starter between all of the hoses. You will have to work on getting a good spot so you can see enough of the screen.
----
4) Remove intake support bracket (black bar) bolt (14mm on back/top of intake manifold) - Push water hose out of clip. This is a black bar that runs vertically near the back of the engine. It will be fairly obvious when you are below the car working on the starter, so you can always come back to this step once you see it on the bottom.
5) Jack up car, put on stands. (I did front only) I used jackstands on the front side jack points, plus slid ramps under the front wheels.
Now you are working primarily underneath the car. Obviously I had already jacked up the car for my helper to fit underneath with the iPhone in step 3.
6) Unclip wire harnesses from intake support bracket, remove lower 14mm bolt and remove. This is the same black vertical bar as in step 4. There are 3 wire harnesses attached to this bar, but they slide off easily. I think I had my helper up top remove them and we slide the bracket up to remove it.
7) Remove power cable from back of starter. 12mm under rubber boot.
8) Remove other cable (spade connector - above power cable - you can't really see it - it pulls straight off, don't need to press anything) I know the last guy was asking about this, but that was a year ago, so hopefully he figured it out by now. It is a rubber-booted 1/4" spade connector with a 90 degree bend in the wire right at the spade bit. Look at your new starter to see the position, reach up there and pull the wire out.
9) Note the position of the knock sensor - the cable that you just took off with the spade connector shares wires with the knock sensor so its easy to spot. It has a green plastic ring on it too. The knock sensor is plastic and brittle. Don't break it. Seriously, its easy to do and a bitch to replace when the engine is in the car. (I didn't this time, but have broken it on other engine swaps). I didn't break mine either!
10) Remove both 10mm bolts to fuel line bracket on frame where the hardline connects to the flexible one. This will give you more wiggle room to get the starter out. While you are at it, disconnect the two ground straps with the same 10mm socket.
11) Remove 14mm lower starter bolt. I used a 3/8's breaker bar and deep socket. It was the perfect length. Starter is now loose.
12) Back starter out of hole in block while paying attention to the knock sensor.
13) Twist and rotate starter to get it out. Takes a little time and finesse. Don't forget about that knock sensor. I pushed some large wiring bundles up and had my helper hold them up from above. I think my general method involved dropping the ass end of the starter down first, then rotating the assembly around so the solenoid and mounting bracket get through the opening. That fuel line from step 9 keeps getting in the way. I had to continue to push it out of the way.
14) Reverse steps to put it all back together. Getting the spade connector back on is a little bit of a pain because you can't see it. But just lay there on your back and fiddle with it. You'll get it eventually. That spade connector took a bit of time, but I got it in. When you are reinstalling the upper starter bolt, use the same technique in step 3, except electrical-tape the bolt to the socket as well. Don't forget the ground straps if you disconnected them.
I wanted to add a few pointers to the instructions that I think might be helpful to the next guy. My comments are in bold below.
**** Disconnect Battery ****
1) Remove Intake air box/filter, not the manifold
2) Remove Accessory Belt There are instructions elsewhere, but breaker bar on tensioner counter-clockwise, slide belt off smooth pulley near middle. Make sure you have a good amount of room for the breaker bar to rotate back after releasing the belt.
3) Remove top bolt of Alternator, loosen lower and rotate away so you can get to the top starter bolt. (see any tranny removal thread) Remove starter bolt with long extension. I actually removed the alternator (not sure it was necessary), but there is another DIY for that. A prybar made it easy. To remove the top starter bolt, I got a bit creative. I used about 2 feet of 3/8" extensions with a swivel on the end near the 14mm socket. I secured the extensions, swivel and socket to each other with electrical tape, plus wrapped electrical tape around the swivel to make it less floppy. I stood at the front of the car and had a helper below holding an iPhone in camera mode so that I could see the iPhone screen and the screen was displaying the upper alternator bolt. Then it was just a matter of moving the socket contraption slowly to let the screen catch up with its location. We found the best position for the iPhone was directly below the path of the socket extensions, perhaps halfway to the starter between all of the hoses. You will have to work on getting a good spot so you can see enough of the screen.
----
4) Remove intake support bracket (black bar) bolt (14mm on back/top of intake manifold) - Push water hose out of clip. This is a black bar that runs vertically near the back of the engine. It will be fairly obvious when you are below the car working on the starter, so you can always come back to this step once you see it on the bottom.
5) Jack up car, put on stands. (I did front only) I used jackstands on the front side jack points, plus slid ramps under the front wheels.
Now you are working primarily underneath the car. Obviously I had already jacked up the car for my helper to fit underneath with the iPhone in step 3.
6) Unclip wire harnesses from intake support bracket, remove lower 14mm bolt and remove. This is the same black vertical bar as in step 4. There are 3 wire harnesses attached to this bar, but they slide off easily. I think I had my helper up top remove them and we slide the bracket up to remove it.
7) Remove power cable from back of starter. 12mm under rubber boot.
8) Remove other cable (spade connector - above power cable - you can't really see it - it pulls straight off, don't need to press anything) I know the last guy was asking about this, but that was a year ago, so hopefully he figured it out by now. It is a rubber-booted 1/4" spade connector with a 90 degree bend in the wire right at the spade bit. Look at your new starter to see the position, reach up there and pull the wire out.
9) Note the position of the knock sensor - the cable that you just took off with the spade connector shares wires with the knock sensor so its easy to spot. It has a green plastic ring on it too. The knock sensor is plastic and brittle. Don't break it. Seriously, its easy to do and a bitch to replace when the engine is in the car. (I didn't this time, but have broken it on other engine swaps). I didn't break mine either!
10) Remove both 10mm bolts to fuel line bracket on frame where the hardline connects to the flexible one. This will give you more wiggle room to get the starter out. While you are at it, disconnect the two ground straps with the same 10mm socket.
11) Remove 14mm lower starter bolt. I used a 3/8's breaker bar and deep socket. It was the perfect length. Starter is now loose.
12) Back starter out of hole in block while paying attention to the knock sensor.
13) Twist and rotate starter to get it out. Takes a little time and finesse. Don't forget about that knock sensor. I pushed some large wiring bundles up and had my helper hold them up from above. I think my general method involved dropping the ass end of the starter down first, then rotating the assembly around so the solenoid and mounting bracket get through the opening. That fuel line from step 9 keeps getting in the way. I had to continue to push it out of the way.
14) Reverse steps to put it all back together. Getting the spade connector back on is a little bit of a pain because you can't see it. But just lay there on your back and fiddle with it. You'll get it eventually. That spade connector took a bit of time, but I got it in. When you are reinstalling the upper starter bolt, use the same technique in step 3, except electrical-tape the bolt to the socket as well. Don't forget the ground straps if you disconnected them.