[mtbguy]

Okay everyone, I've searched a bit on the forum and seem to be hearing different opinions. The car is an 1987 Carrera (G-50) cab (former garage queen) with 37k on it now. The starter is acting up occasionally and slowly trending towards getting worse.

I had my engine rebuilt this summer and thought about replacing the starter when it was out, but it was working fine. My battery is about 9 mos. old and terminal contacts are clean and tight.

Recently it is starting to act as if the solenoid is slowly going bad, hanging up occasionally, sticking/screeching- seems to be worse in the warm months when heat soaked after driving. It seems as if replacing the starter sometime this winter will prevent problems next summer, as it seems to very slowly, gradually getting more frequent. It did give me a screech the other day when it was a cold start though. Often if you release key and try it a second time it is completely normal.

Do I HAVE TO do a partial engine drop or not to get at the bolt on top of the starter? I am kicking myself now for not replacing it when it would have been so easy, and I did most of the other preventative maintenance things at that time.

Any of you tried it without the drop? For those who did drop the transmission, how many hours time (approximate) for a two wrench kind of DIY home mechanic?

Thanks!