Starter replacement

[Isabo]

Today was the first dry day I saw this autumn and I decided to take the ratty and disreputable one for an early morning blast in the mountains to clear out our cobwebs. Slightly marred by some starting issues when I fired up at home and at the bar I stopped at for breakfast.
The symptoms were the starter was sounding worn out and not turning. At a third attempt it acted normally. I have since been taught to rock the car whilst in gear to move the starter to a less worn position to overcome the problem.
I think it is simply worn out after about 30 plus years. I am inclined to simply get a new starter and talk my husband into fitting it when he thinks he has nothing to do.
My questions:
Is it likely to leave me stranded if I wait.
Are ther any issues with the the newer high torque starters I see being promoted.
Thanks.

[Ned nyna 11]

Isa,

Generally speaking there is not much advantage in delaying a job that you know has to be done.

You should get a new starter, a high torque unit will work fine, I have one in my Carrera.

There is a possibility that the ring gear, the part the starter engages, may also be worn. You could have him inspect that gear through the inspection hole at the bottom. If that part needs to be replaced, the engine must be removed first.

In the meantime, if you always park on a hill, or have a couple of guys push start it.

But yes, it will likely leave you stranded if you wait.

Ned

[Matt_West]

Isa,
Order the hight torque starter. Tell your husband when he installs it that:
1. He may need to lengthen the positive lead for the battery. (There is plenty of cable it just needs to be fed to the rear or the car.)
2. The new starter is "short" one spade connector. He will either need to combine two wires, use an adapter, or add a spade to the starter.

Also consider doing the work your self

Cheers,
Matt

[oneblueyedog]

I replaced my starter with a Hi torque. You need a spade connector adapter 1 to 2 spades. You will probably need to renew some of the spades on the yellow and yellow black wires (78sc) that went to the old starter's solenoid. These will go to the single spade connector on the Hi torque, thus needing the adapter. It's a very cheap part(spade connector). Its a good idea to also make sure that all of the wires are far away from any part of the car as to keep the system from shorting out. ESPECIALLY THE BLACK CABLE AND RED CABLE. DISCONNECT THE BATTERY BEFORE REPLACING THE STARTER. It took me 40 min to replace it. You may need a hex socket for the upper barrel nut that holds the starter (and transmission) I think there is a how to article on the Pelican site.

Very satifying repair!

[flipper]

I ordered a high torque starter from flebay and it bolted right up, it had the spade connector, so I did not have to do a thing. It is awsome, and half the weight!

[Isabo]

Originally posted by Matt_West
Isa,

Also consider doing the work your self

Cheers,
Matt

-do it myself when I have a perfectly good husband loafing around?

[island911]

Originally posted by Isabo
...
My questions:
Is it likely to leave me stranded if I wait.
...

not if you park on hills.

I would drop the starter, open it up and check the condition. Likely it just needs new brushes, cleaned-up contacts . . .maybe throw in a new bushing or two. Those OE starters are built like tanks!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

$.02 on the high torque starter. I just put one in on my 3.2 and it blocks the hose to the heat exchanger. I just wanted to get the motor in, so we didn't noodle it very much, but I'm guessing a search here will yield the fix. Pics below.

tedious, but probably worthwhile to pull the starter and look through the mounting hole while you turn the crank, looking for any very worn teeth on the ring gear. If there are any burrs that would kick back the starter pinion gear, you can run a file against the teeth.

While the high torque starter is great, it makes this sort of sewing machine/machine gun sound on start-up. A very small thing, but it sounds like you are starting a Nissan Sentra more than anything... that is until the MB911 muffler kicks in.

[rburn]

I read this other thread and it appears you can take off the plate and then move it in increments enough to clear the exchanger piping I seen this reference in this post below.

I just order the high torque starter from our host for my 84, and i was interested in this problem (or not having it)... I'll post when i get it next week if this is so.

Hi Torque starter - source?

[rburn]

Several items needed for this to work in a 84 carrera.
What was a little disapointing was the call to Pelican before i ordered this asking if there was a problem mounting this in a 1984 carrera... guy said... no issues... well that's far from the truth. I really think that they should have a baggy with the couple dollar's worth of parts and a small instruction manual... like no exchangers etc... then fit as is, but if you have stock exchangers that rotate the plate and that you need to shim stock nuts with washers blah blah blah...

#1.
have more washers as the flange is thinner that the stock starter. I went to reguler metric nuts. maybe when i pull the motor someday for somthing, i can put the original nuts back on. why i don't know lol... since the new starter is far from oem.

#2.
Rotate the flange on the starter to it's opposite or furthest place from it's initial position. You have to take the two cheezy rounded 1.5?mm allen head bolts out to accomplish this. Now the starter will actually mount up correctly, as out of the box it actually hit my exchanger metal tube and not the flex pipe going up.

#3.
Gets better here, the 85 has a smaller yellow wire i think to the ignition switch and used to bolt to the old soleniod. Well the new starter has a single spade type connector. I did not want to cut my wire and put on a female spade connector on so there was a very small hole in the spade that i drilled slightly larger and used a like a 4mm bolt and nut to connect the original wire to the spade.
Also the battery positive cable now will not reach, I actually took it out of the two metal keepers and rerouted it and it was just fine - didn't have to pull on it etc.

#4.
Tip... You need to hook up the wires before you mount the starter. i had it almost up there and turned it and then hooked up all the wiring. Then tilted it up into place.

I must say my old starter was shot and very noisy, it got worse so i dropped it immediately and hoped i did not mess up the ring gear. I spot checked it and it looked good but i was prepared if the noise still there and any bad sounds were to come out... i was ready to drop the motor ...

Luckily i cranked it up and it is smooth as silk now. I can't believe how quiet it is when it starts.

Enjoy!

[aigel]

Just a comment: I bought mine at EBS as I had the engine out and ordered engine parts at the same time. and it came with all hardware needed. It also fit perfectly fine, no interference with the heater tubing. I have the same exhaust on the late 3.0 as the early Carrera does. My starter looks different than the one pictured above. It is smaller. I have put the same model starter on a couple of my American heaps with great success also. Funny that it was over a hundred bucks less for the US cars, with just the adapter looking a bit different! Porsche tax!? It will turn over a high compression 7.5 liter V8 easily, so it really cranks the flat 6. The weight savings are significant also. One of the better non OEM replacement parts out there IMHO.

Cheers, George