starter...simple to replace? help me get home!

[Anonymous]

I am at work...and..."whirr"...my car wont start. all my manuals are at home. a starter is a simple bolt off/on thing...right?

I saw one at autozone online...its cheap without the solenoid...

my second quesiton is....I dont need the solenoid...do I? I am talking probability here...

help me get home

 

[x21]

Starter is usally held in by about 3 bolts. Only real problem is just they are heavy lil suckers to position. At least its a lot easier with the open space in the 200's engine bay.
What is the "whir" you are referring to? Does it sound like the starter spinning, but not engaging?
I hear its a good idea to get the solenoid with a new starter.
I hope you have an easy time driving through all those protesters out there once you get the car working again

 

[Anonymous]

man....you hit it right on the head...these friggin protestors...

At night they close the downtown exits from 6:15 till7pm...and I live downtown...

this morning...when you saw the group of protestors on the news...6 blocks from my house...

I was ready to ram 'em...

back to my starter...yeah, a whirring like it is not engaging...I hope tahts the starter ONLY!

what else could it be?

 

[x21]

It could be that the gear of the starter is not popping out to contact the flywheel.
If that's the case you could have had the starter thats just sitting at my apt. I am sure that it still works, but if I remember right, I got a new one when I got the rebuilt motor. Problem is, I am waay up here in Gville.
That sux about the protesters helping cause a shutdown of things though. I have been keepin my eye on things with streaming video from the channels there- nbc6 mostly.
I hope you can manage replacing that starter. As long as you have the right size wrenches, you should be ok. Also make sure to unhook the battery beforehand, just in case. :idea:
Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

good tip on the battery

I am going to Orlando this weekend...but prolly NOT driving the mustang...depends on weather...

I protest protestors!

 

[CobraSix]

Chaz, My starter does that from time to time. I just let it sit for a few minutes at try again. Another thing you can sometimes do is use a motivator (hammer) and gently (and I do me gently) tap the outside of the starter.

Slade

 

[Anonymous]

gently?

as guys...are we ever gentle? maybe I should get my wife to hit it!

thanks Slade!

 

[Falcon62]

Here's a quick one, make sure the starter bolts haven't backed out to the point the bendix isn't making contact with the flywheel. I've seen this happen many times. Snug up the bolts and away you go. If not, the starter is a simple changeout, remove neg batt cable, disconnect battery cable from starter, remove three starter bolts, remove /replace starter and reverse sequence to complete. If the starter motor is spinning, the whirring you describe, your solenoid is probably fine. If the solenoid was bad, you might get a clicking or nothing at all.

Good Luck!

 

[strat1960s]

Now this is something I have experience with. I sometimes refer to myself as an Air Force parts changer instead of a mechanic.
The Whirr you are hearing could be the teeth of the starter not meshing with the ring gear (fly-wheel). The teeth on the starter are made with a softer metal than the ring-gear. The starter is easier to replace than the ring-gear. The teeth of the starter will wear out before the ring gear. You might want to inspect the teeth on your ring gear since you have the starter out. Look for flat spots, missing and or damaged teeth. If you find any, start plans on replacing your fly-wheel.
It is possible that your starter is not kicking the starter gear out enough or at all. Either of these mean that your starter is going bad and needs to be repaird or replaced. I would say that replacing your starter would take you about 30 minutes. Like everyone said, disconnect your battery before you do anything and save the sparks for the 4 th of July!

Ted

 

[TheDude]

The starter is easy to replace. It helps if you have a buddy under the car to hold the starter up until you have removed all the bolts. Your buddy can then easily move the starter out of place. It is fairly heavy. This is a good time to replace the starter to solenoid wire if it has not been replaced for a while.