Mongo

Ok guys I got home from work about 1 hour ago. We got the starter out of the car. BTW, any of you who have trouble with the bolts, COMPLETELY saturate them in PB-Blaster (AKA Satan's ****) and let it soak for a couple hours. Which is what I did before I left for work today.

Anyways with a lot of force and a mallet I got the starter mounting bolts loose and thanks to Satan's **** that also helped break them. Anyways the starter's out and I'm coming back with a digital camera in a couple minutes to take pix of the starter.


Andy

Rock

I took my starter out to get a bunch of stuff that fell down the flywheel inspection hole. It came off easily.

Mongo

ok guys here's the pix. As you can see there's a lot of rust on the connections...

I apologize about the blurriness of the pictures. my new camera should not be doing that.

Pay attention to big blue right there.. That nasty looking ground going from the solenoid to the starter Perhaps that could be a prime suspect.

Mongo

here are the connections and wires from the car to the starter. They don't look too bad, not as bad as the starter looked.

Mongo

And here's how the cables look now after they've been cleaned up.

That's it for now. Tomorrow I'll be back with an update when I get home from work and my dad brings home a used starter from the wrecking yard. I managed to put one on hold for $50.

Wish me luck, I hope I can get this puppy running again this weekend to end my woes.

Andy

NeedPorscheSpeed

Good luck, Andy! When a friend of mine and I replaced the starter on my S2 in April, it was one tough puppy to get off! Next time I'll know to use PB Blaster!

Mongo

NeedPorschSpeed, Give the wrench you use too some GOOD LOVIN' with a rubber mallet. That works even more to really get it off!!!

And thanks! I need all I can get!!!


Andy

Yabo

Well, I still think it's dumb to not just clean off the connections on the solonoid and test it on a bench with a spare battery (or your battery). Why spend 50 bucks when its not needed. That solonoid doesn't look bad IMO at all. It just needs some sand paper at the terminals.. But if you don't have the time to try, get the used one.

Mongo

Devon, I just got finished this morning testing it. I did the good old car battery post to terminal test. NO-GO. She's shot for sure.


Andy

Yabo

Okay.. Someone also said to me in my post (if you search my name and look at my starter posts) they linked me to another thread, which described a cleanning process, because clutch dust gets in the starter and causes it not to turn. You can look at that to at least sell yours afterwards maybe.

Mongo

hey that's not a bad idea I also completely forgot about that post I wonder if it's difficult to clean the mechanics up.

Andy

Yabo

I got the cap off pretty easy.. and it didnt seem too bad.. and it was my first time ever in a starter.

Only thing i couldn't get (but i didn't try very hard, pb blaster might do it...) was getting the solonoid off.the screws were stuck.

Mongo

Did you take any pix of the cleaning? I'm curious to see what the innards do look like on this baby. If all goes well today, I'll come home and see a starter that has clean unrusted terminals that I can work with.

Andy

Yabo

damn i knew i shouldve... sorry.

Have fun! you take off the rear cap (not the whole housing) so you only see the top rear of teh innards.. and its not too scary. don't worry, nothing flies out at you when you open it.

Mongo

UPDATE:

$50 gets you a lot from a wrecking yard. For sh*ts and giggles my friend cracked the starter open for my dad to see what was wrong with it. My dad just called me and said it looked like a bomb went off in the main motor housing. The bushings were damaged and 1 was even busted! The whole housing had enough clutch dust to make another clutch for my car

As for the replacement, the starter is VERY new, no corrosion whatsoever Also I got a belly pan and hardware for it included in my purchase price! What a great deal today!!!!

Andy