Starter Motor

[skozzy]

A few days ago our 89Exa developed a problem with the Starter Motor, you could turn the key, the Starter would engage but not spin. I crawled under the car today and noticed the wire link from the coil to the starters main motor was a little loose (only a small amount), so I tightened it up the best I could, there is no fucken room in there to do anything, the car starts most of the time, but it's not 100%.

I was wondering if the removalof the starter and refitting it is a hard job. I have done heaps of starter removales and refits on many other cars, but after getting under the exa I can't even see the bolts that hold it in place.

I realy have to get it out and strip it down and give it a good clean up, there has been oil dropping on it from the upper areas of the motor for some time by the looks of it. And I think a clean up is worth while.

So, some advice here guys. Should I try to tackle it myself, and it's it fairly easy, or is there some bullshit involved like removing stuff to get to it.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/pinball_player/89exa/icon_tag.jpg

[GTS20tExa]

there is a bolt on one side and one on the other, from memory one is a 14mm and the other is a 10m, or could be 12/10. It's been a while.

It's do-able from under and on top of the car, there are a couple of crazies here in Melbourne that have it down to an insane 20 minute job.

[Lonx]

Nunga on here told me you could remove the driver's side wheel and by using 2 or 3 wrench extension bars you can undo the bolts very easily that way. Haven't done it myself so I cant give any more info. I had the same problem with that wire becoming disconnected & ended up rebuilding it (like $15 parts).

[ilarioM]

heyy from memory, its big bitch, lol the bolt from under the starter motor is all done by feeling if i remember, u get the top one from the gear box side. as for takin it out the space , hmm i think we didnt bother cuz it was hard we left it there (cuz this is wen i did my clutch. but to do wire up, if u know some one wid subby spanners they are about 8cm long u should be able to get to it

[skozzy]

Here is the updated story.

Starter Motor had fragged brushes.

To remove it we put the car up on ramps to disconect the wires, it was a little tricky to get to but was possible with a litle persistnace.

We removed the intakes piping after the air cleaner to give us more working room.

We could then access the bolts that held the starter in, we couldn't see the bolts, but we could feel them, in my car they were both 14mm bolts, the bolt closer to the motor had its head bacing the left wheel and also had a earth wire attached to it, the bolt closer to the firewall had it's head facing to the right wheel. (Quite odd)

The ignition wire on the starter had a heavy duty plug on it, and was a bitch to unplug, then the remaining wire to the starter was fixed to a bracket that looked like it was apart of the engine mount, we had to bend it to get the plug free from it.

Then with a peice of wood we bashed the starter untill it came free.

We pulled it apart and saw the 2 positive power brushes were worn down to the point that there was no more travel left in them, the negitive brushes were 1/2 worn.

I went to Ashdown and got some new brushes, it's cost $20.90 for the 4 brushes, the 2 positive brushes come complete with the main wire, the negitive brushes had the standard small wire.

Replacing the brushes was a little bit of a task, the negitive brushes are spot welded to the base plate. So I had to go find someone with a spot welder, the closest I came was at a panal beater, but their machine was too powerfull, so we cut the old negitive brushes off with a wire snipper and used a mig welder to tac the new brushes down, then cleaned it up with a grinder.

Regreesed the starter, cleaned it up, and put it back to gether.

The refitted it to the car and Bob's Ya Uncle.

Took 3 hours to study and remove the starter.

Took 15 mins to do the welding/grinding/cleaning of the starter.

Took 1 hour to put it back in and refit the intake stuff.

Oh.. And we killed the battery tring to start it when the starter was bad. So I had to cough for another battery, I got a 440CCA battery, $109, it's measurements fit the battery holder perfectly, 10inch long, 7 inch wide, 9 inch tall.

I hope this helps others that need to do the same job.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/pinball_player/89exa/icon_tag.jpg