164 starter motor...

... anyone have cause to remove it for servicing? Is it as much of a hag as it appears? Can it be done without removing rear exhaust manifold?

Just at the "wondering" stage now...

It's every bit as much of a "hag" as it appears...

...and THEN some!!!!!

There is one bolt near the top which is an utter pig to get at. I have taken one out of a pre-cat 12 valve V6 in the past and I didn't take the back manifold off, but it was hard work!

I got an old combination spanner and heaterd it up to put a dog-leg bend in it. That helps with the top bolt.

Ah...


... that's what I thought...




...





...








Oh well...

Cheer up! I've got my MOT tomorrow - it could be my last....!

Fingers crossed....

Hurrah! Passed, first time, not even any "advisories"!!! The oul' coffin-dodging shed lives to fight another year! Maybe I'll get to the quarter million after all!

The only thing that soured my day somewhat was the (rather cruel lesson) that the extra "month" MOT, is in fact only 28 days! In other words, I presented it for MOT exacly a calendar month before the old one was due to expire (just on the off chance that it failed and needed some work)! As it happened, the damned thing passed but I only got an MOT for 12 months instead of 13 months because it wasn't within 28 days! If I'd waited another day, I'd have got a 13 month MOT! In fact, if the tester had failed me for (say) a No. plate lamp, I could have brought it back the following day with no retest fee and got a 13 month MOT!

Ah well, at least it passed!

How did the starter swap go?

Well done!


I haven't had a go yet, it's not really a problem as such at this stage...


I first noticed, back in the depths of winter, early morning starts sometimes were accompanied by a scraping/ringing sound (like a screwdriver held against the flywheel) which would, except for one time, fade after a few seconds (the mentioned time, the sound carried on until shutoff, then didn't happen upon restart).

I eventually figured the pinion is sometimes not retracting once engine starts, and is ever so slightly "hanging" and just brushing the ring gear...

Not been a problem until recently, one hot day, driving in stop-go traffic, engine became quite hot and after a brief stop, made the noise once I was on my way again. I shut down for a moment to clear it, but when I tried to restart, the pinion refused to engage at all! Just heard starter motor spinning...

It eventually caught, and not been a problem since... but I know it's on the list of things to do! Will need to be lubricated soon...

Might be worth trying a good dose of penetrating oil on the pinion gear and its pivot mechanism via a long tube from an aerosol before you tak it all to bits - you might just get away with it!

I didn't think I'd be able to get at it without removal! If there is an aperture big enough to attempt lubrication through, it's no wonder crud and road grime can get in there to jam the mechanism up!

There's an aperture at the top of the bellhousing through which you MIGHT be able to get something poked in towards the starter, I have to admit I've never tried though. I guess you'd also need to be careful about contaminating the clutch plate - although I don't suppose light oil would bother it much. Perahps it might be worth trying to spray the flywheel as close to the ring gear as possible whilst the engine is running, in the hope that it "centrifuges" some on to the starter pinion gear?

It's an auto, so the clutch isn't an issue... Where on the bellhousing do you mean?

I guess it won't hurt to roll my sleeves up and have a look! Not much room in there, though... I really should have bought that endoscope when I had the chance!

It should be right at the top. Mine's an old 12 valve manual so it might well be different, but on mine its directly beneath the distributor - next to the oil pressure sender. It's about an inch and a half by about 3/4". I could certainly spray the ring gear through it.

Found the aperture you mean, yes I will see if I can get something into it that way. Will let you know how I get on...