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How to- Starter Motor replacement

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bigwinn
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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by bigwinn » Sun Dec 20, 2020 5:46 pm

Hi all

Symptoms- very laboured starting for a while- as I drive the car only once a week I presumed the battery was on the way out- wrong!

Once or twice I was greeted with a click and no turnover. When it did this at work I started to look at the starter motor- especially as it went from click to start after tapping the motor with a BFH.

Replacement bought using myriad of discount codes from EuroCrapParts- decent price of under £60 when I take the old one back for reconditioning.

Onto the car:

Disconnect battery.
Had a good feel around the areas- decided against taking the airbox, intake boot and intake manifold off. Note a lot of guides suggest this needs to be done- mine being a 2.2 I DIDNT need to do this with adequate space to work.

Here is the business end of the starter, tucked under the intake manifold. Have a look and move/unclip any hoses that might get in the way. I moved very little.
IMG_8608.jpeg
IMG_8608.jpeg (127.81 KiB) Viewed 2527 times
First task- undo/loosen the bolts holding the starter motor to the bell housing- I used E12 Torx spanner to break the grip then undid with a 10mm normal socket once moving. Once they were loose I then focussed on the electrical connections. From this photo you can see the torx spanner on one and arrowed is the other. Easy to get to from the top of the engine. Note the rear of the car is to the RIGHT.
IMG_8610.jpeg
IMG_8610.jpeg (143.2 KiB) Viewed 2527 times
The electrical connections- 13mm BIG bolt held on 2 heavy duty electrical wires, mine were red. Once off and safely stowed I undid the 10mm low volt wire. Likewise I safely stowed this away out of the way.
IMG_8612.jpeg
IMG_8612.jpeg (162.81 KiB) Viewed 2527 times
Time to get the motor off- it separated with a bit of wiggling, moving toward the front of the car. With some manoeuvring around hoses out it came!
IMG_8613.jpeg
IMG_8613.jpeg (161.1 KiB) Viewed 2527 times
The new one ready to go in- now this was about 10mm longer in the body than the old one but there was plenty of clearance. I tweaked up the bolts to hold it in place, then connected and tightened (NOT overtight on the 10mm low voltage that felt a bit fragile). Put all the hoses and clips back on, reconnected the battery and done!

Any questions please drop me a line- 45mins start to finish on a cold December day- minimal tools and maximum satisfaction!

Cheers

Stuart
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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by maxman » Sun Dec 20, 2020 7:17 pm

Good write up. :thumbsup:

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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by futureZ4buyer » Mon Dec 21, 2020 10:23 am

Great one, thank you!
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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by blunderthumbs » Mon Dec 21, 2020 11:00 am

This is why I joined this forum :) . Plenty of great tips and advice to help keep our Zeds on the road and save our hard earned cash. :thumbsup:
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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by colb » Tue Dec 22, 2020 7:24 pm

Did the same on my 2.5, ratchet spanner worked fine on mine.
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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by parabolica » Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:10 pm

Hi Stuart,

Good timing as my starter motor gave out the other night and I need to tackle this. Can I ask how many bolts held your motor on? Most of the parts online show 3 bolts, but on another Starter Motor thread on here the guy's photo of the starter only had 2 bolt holes for mounting - but that was on a N-series engine I think.

Hoping 3 is the correct answer as there seems to be many more options for replacement motors with 3 mounting holes rather than 2.

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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by Zedebee » Mon Jan 11, 2021 4:12 pm

parabolica wrote: Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:10 pm Hi Stuart,

Good timing as my starter motor gave out the other night and I need to tackle this. Can I ask how many bolts held your motor on? Most of the parts online show 3 bolts, but on another Starter Motor thread on here the guy's photo of the starter only had 2 bolt holes for mounting - but that was on a N-series engine I think.

Hoping 3 is the correct answer as there seems to be many more options for replacement motors with 3 mounting holes rather than 2.
3 holes on the starter motor. The two threaded holes are for the bolts through from the bell housing; the unthreaded (middle) for a locating pin.

The mounting on the N52 engine is completely different.

This one is about to go in a pre-facelift 2.5i. Less than £50 on carparts4less.
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2003 Maldives Blue 3.0i auto
Previously: Maldives Blue 2.5i manual (its back!) and another, and a Monaco Blue 3.0Si coupe

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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by enuff_zed » Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:10 pm

Well I have to say I'd be stuck these last two weeks without Stuart's (bigwinn) input.
This how-to is another fine example.
Supposed to be wfh, so nipping out and doing a bit at a time to remove the dead starter before quickly checking the emails, then back out again. :D
Only extra bits I had to do was remove the sound generator for access.
Started the mounting bolts with the socket as advised, but found access too restricted for the lower one: ratchet wedged on the bell-housing.
I did find though that an old 3/8 AF ring spanner is a perfect fit.
I have two thin black wires, one to the top (8mm nut) and one to the bottom (10mm nut)

What Stuart has failed to mention is the guy with the welder who installed the motor in the first place!!!
Nearly an hour to remove it once all unbolted.
The locator peg had corroded and did not want to leave it's hole.
I recommend a good dose of WD40 before you start.
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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by bigwinn » Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:35 pm

Welded??

Sweet j3sus

Good job matey- spins up well now I trust?
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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by enuff_zed » Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:17 pm

bigwinn wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:35 pm Welded??

Sweet j3sus

Good job matey- spins up well now I trust?
Not actually welded, but it seemed like it for a while!
All bolted in and starts better than ever. Old one never span that fast since we had it.
Appreciate all the advice Monday night.
Stuck with the back end on ramps, blocking access to my E89, with Vall needing to use the daily and me needing to get to work!
Glad you knew how to get the auto box moveable. :thumbsup:
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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by bigwinn » Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:56 pm

enuff_zed wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:17 pm
bigwinn wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:35 pm Welded??

Sweet j3sus

Good job matey- spins up well now I trust?
Not actually welded, but it seemed like it for a while!
All bolted in and starts better than ever. Old one never span that fast since we had it.
Appreciate all the advice Monday night.
Stuck with the back end on ramps, blocking access to my E89, with Vall needing to use the daily and me needing to get to work!
Glad you knew how to get the auto box moveable. :thumbsup:
always a pleasure

Will deffo pop over soon- keeping an eye on Liams race dates
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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by enuff_zed » Wed Jun 16, 2021 2:01 pm

bigwinn wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:56 pm
enuff_zed wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:17 pm
bigwinn wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:35 pm Welded??

Sweet j3sus

Good job matey- spins up well now I trust?
Not actually welded, but it seemed like it for a while!
All bolted in and starts better than ever. Old one never span that fast since we had it.
Appreciate all the advice Monday night.
Stuck with the back end on ramps, blocking access to my E89, with Vall needing to use the daily and me needing to get to work!
Glad you knew how to get the auto box moveable. :thumbsup:
always a pleasure

Will deffo pop over soon- keeping an eye on Liams race dates
So why did mine have 2 thin black wires and yours only one? Was yours a manual? Maybe its something to do with the gear selector on the auto?

Also, for anyone else attempting this, my replacement starter was longer than the old one too.
I pulled the old one out connector end first, but to fit the new one I had to put the 'drive' end in first and push it a little way into the housing to get room to swing the other end in.
HQ of 'Norfolk Zed Rescue'.
Always happy to help if I can.

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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by bigwinn » Wed Jun 16, 2021 2:22 pm

enuff_zed wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 2:01 pm
bigwinn wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:56 pm
enuff_zed wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:17 pm Not actually welded, but it seemed like it for a while!
All bolted in and starts better than ever. Old one never span that fast since we had it.
Appreciate all the advice Monday night.
Stuck with the back end on ramps, blocking access to my E89, with Vall needing to use the daily and me needing to get to work!
Glad you knew how to get the auto box moveable. :thumbsup:
always a pleasure

Will deffo pop over soon- keeping an eye on Liams race dates
So why did mine have 2 thin black wires and yours only one? Was yours a manual? Maybe its something to do with the gear selector on the auto?

Also, for anyone else attempting this, my replacement starter was longer than the old one too.
I pulled the old one out connector end first, but to fit the new one I had to put the 'drive' end in first and push it a little way into the housing to get room to swing the other end in.
Possible due to auto/manual diffs I suppose?

I'll have a look on the 3L auto later on see what thats got on it
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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by enuff_zed » Fri Jun 18, 2021 8:58 am

Out of interest, I thought I'd see what had caused my starter motor to fail.
It was the original, marked up as 2003, so it hadn't done badly.
I know it's the brushes that wear, but I didn't think they'd look like this!
Starter motor.JPG
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How to- Starter Motor replacement

Post by bigwinn » Sat Nov 20, 2021 8:44 pm

Edit- I’m doing this on my 3.0 with sound generator and it’s nowhere near as easy

I’ve found that to get to the start point on the 2.2 you have to take the sound generator kit out leading up to the bulkhead
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