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How To: Replace Your Starter on a 1987-95


BigMike
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OK here's the best pic I could get in that enormous amount of space under there, can't photo the starter side of the bolt, there's just too much space for my head & camera :rolleyes: but i can feel that there is no bolt head on that side

 

Well crap apparently I can't upload my photo, haven't kept up with all the new rules and changes for uploading foto's :thumbsdown:

Edited by headpeace
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Ok, if it threads into the starter, and the other bolt has been removed, can you pull the starter straight out (towards the front of the truck)? *hopes*

 

I'll go look at mine in a few minutes.

 

You need to host the photo from a site like photobucket.com and post the address using the [/img] tags.

 

B

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I looked at mine but could only see the top bolt without a mirror. Yes, it will be a through hole in the tranny housing and thread into the starter. Again, with the other bolt removed can you move the starter at all? If so, try pulling the starter straight forward to draw the broken bolt through the tranny hole. It looks like a couple of inches will do it.

 

B

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Ok, here are some pictures to make sure we are talking about the same thing. This should be clear for reference

 

Stuff2002b.jpg

 

 

And this one shows the location of both bolt heads...

 

Stuff2004b.jpg

 

 

The picture you posted looks like the end of a bell housing bolt from the other side. Did you twist the end off or are you just looking at the wrong thing?

Hopefully this settles it??

 

B

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alright disregard, I took that bolt off and it's all good, it was just some oil in that hole from my slight oil leak. It freaked me out at first cuz I thought I had the wrong bolt and tranny fluid was comin out. So I will continue on, Thanks for all the help B :beer:

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Ok, just got back from errands. I'm glad you got it now, you are welcome. Yeah, it would seem weird it weeping fluid, but if you stand back and look at it, there is no place it could come from, as in from the tranny. Better safe than sorry though!!

 

B

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  • 4 months later...
  • 2 months later...

My truck is doing the same thing lately, starts fine when cold but if I drive a few miles go into a store or something when I come out and try to start the truck it will just lick, I turn the key a few times and it will start. I was wondering if it could be the interlock as well. Next time it doesn't start I'm going to have someone turn the key while I tap the starter to see if it works, guess if it starts right up after tapping it than that would indicate a bad starter.

 

On my 87 hardbdody I had to replace the starter 3 times in 3 weeks !! first one a local rebuilt unit lasted 2 days, second one local rebuilt unit laster a week, finally got a beck arnely starter and it lasted until I traded the truck in years later and was still starting just fine.

 

 

when removing the starter I had a 3" body lift as well, I found I had to unbolt he starter move it forward and up, than turn it so it's technically backward than pull it out, first time took over an hour 3rd time was about 10 minutes!!

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  • 3 months later...

Thanks to all your input, I tackled my first 93 Pathfinder starter today. Had it replaced in record time (not counting all the time I spend reading this topic before I started).

Starter came out quickly straight out the front over the torsion bar. You don't have to remove all the wiring to get the starter out this way, you can remove any wires once you

get it fully out. A tip I did, that I did not read about on here was to carefully remove the rubber flaps in the inner wheel wells where they are pinned to the body. If you remove the

RF wheel, part of the inner mud flaps, and the belly pan, the starter becomes fairly easy to remove.

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  • 1 month later...

I just tackled this today on my 95. As previously mentioned, removing the passenger wheel, liner in the wheel well, and belly pan make the starter a piece of cake to remove after unbolting. My only suggestion is make sure to bolt the signal wire to the starter before installing the new one because it is a PITA to put the nut on the terminal once you've already bolted the starter to the tranny. It took me about 3 hours to remove bad starter, take it to advance auto and exchange it as a core for a brand new one, run another errand, and install the new one even with doing the signal wire with the starter already bolted up. Anyone saying this is a day project clearly needs to read this write-up before hand. Cheers. :aok:

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  • 3 weeks later...

I installed a new starter in my 94 and it was not too bad. Other than trying to find a way to get the bad one out it went smoothly. All i did was remove the belly pan and oil filter and wiggle it forward and I just wiggled it over the steering and it cam out and i did the same to put the new one in. I did not have to drop the steering or anything like that. Just make sure you move it so the solenoid is facing up so it is on the top and it will come out. BTW i do not have a lift it is stock.

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  • 6 months later...

Either you all are magicians, or I'm an idiot.

 

On my '91 4WD Auto, there is just no way on God's green earth that the starter could go out down by the bellhousing, out the front over the crossmember, or out through the wheel well. There was just no clearance around the half-shaft or through all the trans cooler lines.

 

Finally had to pull the exhaust manifold out to pull the starter out through the top.

 

Thank God the manifold on that side is easy to get to and easy to remove (as opposed to the driver's side, done that once, don't want to do that again).

 

And bonus! I finally found that oil pressure sensor wire that has been unplugged since I got the truck. It was tucked between the starter and the block. So now, I've got a functioning oil light.

 

But thanks for this thread. Nice to know I wasn't the only one having to deal with this issue.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

just tackled this over the weekend and what a pain mainly due to that metal shield covering the connector for the starter. I removed 2 of the 3 screws from the shield while the starter will still sitting near the engine(couldn't get to the last screw). I then grabbed it by the shield with some vice grips and bent it down which allowed to starter to easily slide right out the front of the vehicle. Replacement was much easier since it did not have that shield on it.

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  • 1 year later...

i am doing this tomorrow as of now my truck is sitting outside with the starter unbolted but stuck inbetween the pipes and everything else... the heat shield is the only thing stopping it from coming out!. i got one out of 3 screws off of it, cant get the other too as its cramp as F$%K!! any tips on this?! also i did buy a prostart (pepboys brand) remanufacture starter.... was this a good idea? or should i just go back and buy a new one? Cause i dont wanna replace my starter again!

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My dad and uncle had a hell of a time getting the shield off of mine. Don't worry if you bugger it, mine has been sitting on my desk for almost two years now and I've had no trouble from the starter.

 

Sorry, no idea on the reman Pepboys, but I had some trouble with a Carquest starter (it was probably a reman but I didn't know to ask). After a few starts it started making horrible noises on disengagement. We took a look at it when we pulled it out and there was a random bit of metal jammed in behind the starter gear. :blink: Its replacement (same thing) has worked fine since. I'd say give yours a good look over and keep the receipt just in case.

  • Like 1
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thanks for that, well i finally did it! it took about 5 hours to just take the old stater out! BUT TI WAS ALL WORTH IT! the shield is the trick! once you take it off its simple to pull it from the front then just slide the new one in... now the new one didnt have screw holes for the shield so i just tapes the sides so it wont more.. is this a problem if the shield falls off? i mean the wire is attached to the shield itself so its not going anywhere but the screws would have made it more secured..

Edited by Nice186
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  • 2 years later...

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