New Starter, Or Not, Part 2

Got in the truck yesterday morning and it would not start. Again. Talked to Eric at Heaton's Automotive earlier in the week about another problem and he said he was slammed, everybody wants their car for the holiday. Call me next week, he says.

Well, shoot, maybe I should just change it out myself. It is only a starter, for Pete's sake. So I use the old tried and true method of persuading misbehaving starters and I rap it with a hammer. It takes a couple of tries, but it finally starts and I drive it into the garage. I dink around a bit trying to find the best approach and finally decide that going in through the wheel well is probably my best shot. Out comes the original scissors jack, first time it has ever been used. Up goes the truck, slide a jack stand under the suspension, take off the wheel and have at it.

Starter Wire Connections

Or not. First task is to disconnect the solenoid wire. I could wait until I get the starter off before I try and disconnect it, the theory being that it will be easier to get to, but then you have to hold the starter while you futz with the connector. Six of one, half dozen of the other. I pry up the red tab with a long screw driver and somehow manage to pull the connector out. Giant pain in the watuzi.

Cannot get to the main start motor cable, the solenoid connector is in the way. So we go for the bolts. I get a long extension on a fine tooth rachet and a 5/8" socket on the upper bolt and pull. It does not budge. I pull as hard as I can. Still nothing. I try putting extensions on the handle to give me more leverage, but there is not enough room to take up the slack AND put any force on the wrench.

Okay, let us look at the bottom bolt, see it we can even get to it. Crawl under the truck and apply a 5/8" box end wrench to the bolt and it loosens right up. No problem there.

I break out the el-cheapo impact wrench, manage to lower it down into the engine compartment where I can I apply it to the bolt. Pull the trigger. Nothing. Pull the trigger and hold it down. Run through two tanks of air. Nothing. Try tightening the bolt, and then loosening it again. See if that might jolt it free. Nothing.

Bah. If the truck was on a rack, I might be able to put a long wrench on the problem bolt from underneath and so apply enough force to break it loose, or break it off, and so get the starter out. But I do not have a rack. Criminently, if the impact wrench will not break it loose, it must really be jammed up. And you know, I do not really know if I could get the starter out even if I did get that bolt out. The starter is hemmed in by the exhaust manifold on top, the front differential below, the engine block on the right, the frame on the left, the bell housing in back and a frame cross member in front. I am gonna let Eric deal with it. I put everything back together and backed the truck out of the garage.

Update April 2020 replaced dead Picasa slideshow with image and link to Google Photos Album