5am Starter Replacement

lucasxdiniz

lucasxdiniz

Active member
 Northamptonshire
Morning all,

I woke up very early this morning to do my starter replacement whilst the weather is tolerable; I probably woke up just before 5am and by 5:27 the starter motor was out of the car, so it probably took about 20min to remove it from the car, so I was under the impression I would be able to sleep a bit more this morning, but when comparing the OE starter with the replacement from West Lancs Auto Electrics, they've sent one with a different connector (they've included the male connector as well) and I don't know if it's on purpose... See photos:

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The new starter is in place now, and I checked that connector in the car actually fits the male connector in the starter, but due to the size of the plastic connector, there isn't enough space for it once the alternator/battery wires are on the starter, so I'll call West Lancs once they open to ask whether there's a 'plug and play' starter so I can keep the OE connector, if not, I'll go to ScrewFix to buy a crimping tool to change the connector in the car and call it a day.
 
Mr Tidy said:
Now that is dedication! :thumbsup:
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More like trying to save myself from this stupid weather :cry:

The new starter is installed now and it's working brilliantly. Much nicer to have the car start in ~1 second rather than 3 or so, and with a healthy sound!
 
Mines one it's way out too unfortunately. Good to read that it can be removed so quickly though :thumbsup:

Wrighty
 
Wrighty said:
Mines one it's way out too unfortunately. Good to read that it can be removed so quickly though :thumbsup:

Wrighty
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Very straight forward, no special tools needed. If you buy from West Lancs you might need a crimping tool, but I reckon some pliers would work too. Some tips that may help:
  1. Remove top of the air box and whatever is rearwards of it (sound generator, etc)
  2. For the E14 bolt facing the bulkhead, place the E14 socket into the bolt first, then attach a 3/8" ratchet to the socket
    • Only make it lose with the ratchet and undo the rest by hand (much quicker) and eventually you wouldn't be able to continue using the ratchet anyway as the bolt is very long.
  3. Undo the second E14 bolt facing frontwards
  4. Pull the motor out of the bell housing, and then bring it towards the bulkhead, you should be able to undo the plastic connector now - I struggled with this one as you'd need two hands, so I used a flat screwdriver to remove the locking spring-clip completely, then I managed to pull the connector out one handed.
  5. Then you can use a 1/4" ratchet with a 13mm socket to undo the alternator/battery cables.
If you follow the wires you'll find that you might be able to pull them closer to the starter motor so you have more wiggle room when moving it.
 
Just a thought, but it might be worth posting your explanation in the "How To" threads. :thumbsup:
 
Mr Tidy said:
Just a thought, but it might be worth posting your explanation in the "How To" threads. :thumbsup:
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Thinking back, when I was trying to find some info on starter replacement, I couldn't find a how to, just some users reporting their experience, which made this job seem a lot harder than it actually was. I'll take some photos and write a how to, which might be useful to others.
 
Cheers @lucasxdiniz that'll help me plus anyone who reads this in the future :thumbsup:

Just noticed you have the n52 though, I've got the older M54 which may have some slight differences in terms of access to the starter I guess
 
Nice work, mate.

I don’t mind the 5am starts in the sunshine so much, it’s the 3am finishes in the rain that have gotten a little stressful! :oops:
 
Shame you missed the meet, but at least the cars not going to crank for the next one :thumbsup:
Did you disconnect the battery first before removing ?
 
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