Starter Motor Replacement

[sperold]

93 SHO ATX
Having some trouble figuring out how to get that top bolt (near the Solenoid) out.
The solenoid is a bit larger diameter near the bolt head and prevents a socket from coming in squarely and engaging the bolt head. This is when you are attacking from the front of the starter (opposite end of teeth)
A really short 13mm socket would be ideal, but I can not find one. A regular socket is long enough to interfere with that solenoid body.

My questions:
1. has anyone used a very short socket (like cut one down)
2. Has anyone removed the solenoid from the starter to install the starter body?

Am I going about this all wrong? Is there another way to get that top bolt?

 

[Irish Pride]

Can you post a picture of what you are dealing with? I'm having a hard time understanding how the solenoid is in the way. It's my understanding that both bolts go in from drivers side to passenger side and should come out the opposite direction. The solenoid is mounted to the starter and shouldn't interfere at all with either bolt.

-Chad

 

[Irish Pride]

After thinking about it for a second, I think the bolt you might be trying to get out is one of the transmission bellhousing bolts. There are two trans bolts, one on either side, that mount thru the block and into the trans. The bolt on the front of the engine is blocked by the starter and you have to remove the starter to get to it. That's the only way I can see this making sense.

-Chad

 

[NoSlo]

Although probably late for advice, the top starter bolt will come off pretty easily with a 13mm ratcheting box-end combo wrench...with about 100 ratchets of little turns. Put your regular 13mm wrench on it to break it loose if too tight.

 

[sperold]

Sorry for the long delay. I really got this one wrong.

It turned out that the threads are in the starter ******, so the bolts go in from the back side of the "bell housing". The solenoid is not in the way of the bolt heads.

That leads me to another finding. The new starter had instructions to simply cut the small wire on the solenoid and they provided a crimp fitting to join the cut wire on the car's wiring to the small wire on the solenoid. My old starter had a tab / spade connector on the solenoid for this original wire and this wire had a spade connector. I added this tab to the new starter and simply put the spade connector back in place. There was enough thread on the new starters solenoid to install the tab and the original nut to secure it. I was careful not to torque this little nut too much to possibly damage something in the solenoid.

The benefit of this new starter was that this connector was on the visible side of the larger 2 wires that went to the solenoid. The old starter had the terminal on the hidden side of the wires and it would have been difficult to connect it.

I believe this small wire is from the key and initiates the starting. I am having problems figuring out if the signal from the key is getting to the solenoid, as I have a no roll over situation. I plan on using the original wire on the starter with the crimp connector to run a wire to a light that i can view to verify that turning the key (with the clutch pedal location switch jumpered out) puts current to the solenoid.