1st Gen. Starter Replacement

[alecbeaton]

EDIT: This job can be accomplished easily without fully removing the intake. See below

Dec 16, 2016 7:45:20 GMT -6 RCA1186 said:

Feb 19, 2015 13:41:45 GMT -6 bobsblue95 said:

I had to change my starter yesterday and figured I'd try to save a few steps.
Turns out you don't need to disconnect much from the intake manifold to be able to lift it enough to access the starter...

 

All I disconnected/removed was the Intake tube, brake booster vacuum hose, PCV and front EGR tube.
From the O.P. list, skip steps 5-13 basically.
I used a jack handle to hold it up while I swapped starters. Worked well and would also be a good way to spot a leaky injector.

Just going to second (actual maybe this would be a "third") you can in fact lift the intake enough to change the starter.

My list of removals

- the three vacuum hoses that run to the top of the intake near the throttle body

- brake booster hose

- EGR tube (removed one end and carefully bent out of the way) (13mm bolt)

- the four front spark plug wires

- the intake tube

- on '98 and '99 there is a fuel rail ground wire on the far left side near the power steering pump that needs to be removed (13mm bolt)

I held mine up using a bungee cord to the hood latch.

Getting the whole thing lifted up enough to access the starter will take 10-15 mins if that. Really easy job.

I'd also recommend cleaning the manifold gasket mating surfaces to prevent leaks. Tighten the intake back down starting from the center and working out in a circular pattern (torquing down to 89 IN/lbs)



I'd surmise that you could also change the backfire valve in this fashion too

Well as you all know i dis-assembled the top half of my motor to get at what i thought was a bad starter. It was just a wire, but i'm doing a write-up so people who need it can have it. Hopefully it'll get put into the Maintenance post.

Sorry for no pictures, i'll be as explanitory as i can. There may be minor differences in the 96-99 years, this is specifically for a '95. Hopefully it's close.

1: Open hood and remove plastic heat/noise shield from top of motor (4 plastic nuts)

2: On the passenger side of the engine, near the front valve cover, you will see a small box labeled "Battery +" in red letters. Pop that cover. This is the lead to the starter. If you don't want to have to pull the backseat for the battery just remove the nut and pull this wire.

3: Remove the silencer and intake tube from the airbox (the box itself can remain).

4: Label and remove the 4 front spark plug wires. I lay them down on the hood and hold them with the wiper.

5: Disconnect the TPS sensor (side of TB, away from passenger compartment)

6: On the '95, disconnect wiring to the Idle Air Motor (96-99 have it in the TB, different wire).

7: Disconnect the wiring look for the Fuel Injectors, it's down and slightly rear of the TB itself, large round plug.

8: Disconnect the fuel lines at the firewall. You can leave them on the fuel rail.

9: Undo coolant line from underneath the TB (spring clamp) Pull off and let drain out while you work.

10: Remove all vacuum lines from TB (one large on the side, 2 small up top, 1 or 2 more i forget).

11: Now is a good time to check the vacuum port on top of the TB. It just unclips. Mine had several cracks in it.

12: Remove EGR pipe from side of TB. It bends out of your way, but go easy on it.

13: NOW check to make sure all your vacuum lines and wiring it out of the way and not going to fight you as you move the intake out of the way.

14: If you havn't already, remove the 4 studs that are the supports for both the top cover, and the hold downs for the fuel rail.

15: Remove bolts for the intake. 10mm. I believe there is 4 of them per side. I know if you have had the fuel recall done that they re-locate the FPR to the front. Right over a bolt. Just use a short open-end wrench and you'll be fine. They're not tight.

16: Some of the bolts will come out, some may not. I had 2 or 3 that wouldn't come. That's fine just make sure you have them completely backed out.

17: This part is probably easiest with two people, but one should be able do it with not to much trouble. Grab the TB mouth and the end of the intake (where the pressure-relief door is) and lift straight up. The whole unit should come up.

18: Rotate the whole thing counter-clockwise. That's with the TB facing the passenger compartment and the pressure-door facing the front.

19: If you're like me, there will be tons of leaves and stuff down there, take this opportunity to vacuum it out. Also if you feel compelled, you could clean all the intake ports too. Take rags or paper towels or tape or SOMETHING and put it over the intake ports, don't want anything down there.

20: Remove the starter with the wires still attached, this is why you removed that B+ lead before hand, RIIIGHT? It's two 10mm bolts, plainly obvious. There isn't any hidden or anything.

21: Pull the starter back and up, and rest it on the valve cover. Use a 14mm socket for the main lead and a 8mm for the trigger lead.

22: Put the wires on the new starter first, then place it back into the car.

23: Installation is reverse of removal! Also, check to see how your intake gaskets are. Mine were OK, but it might be a good idea to replace them. I know there was a marking on manifold saying it was replaced at 14k miles.

I hope this helps anyone, i know the dealer will want at least $500 to do this job, plus the starter. I priced a 2 year guarantee starter at $235, and the labor took me about 2 hours.

[95rora]

Good writeup man, looks like no detail was left unmentioned. Nice work

[TJM]

no pics - no problem - a thousand words (759 to be exact) is worth pictures - you got it covered.

Great write up!

[eurora]

Great work.
Did this same job in summer and took a lot of pics also to compile alike writeup. Couldn't put it all in (English) words jet. ;D
as i see, no need anymore.

[scottydl]

eurora said:

Great work.
Did this same job in summer and took a lot of pics also to compile alike writeup. Couldn't put it all in (English) words jet. ;D
as i see, no need anymore.

Is there any way you could add some of your photos to his text? If so, this would be an excellent addition to our Stickied mechanical write-ups...

[eurora]

scottydl said:

Is there any way you could add some of your photos to his text? If so, this would be an excellent addition to our Stickied mechanical write-ups...

Yes, I think it is possible and relatively easy for me. Not today though.

[toolshed2010]

hmmm i wonder if those pictures are coming any time soon

[eurora]

i feel really sorry for not completing it yet. It's still halfway done, unfortunately have not much time to spend on it. Another thing is that my website does not have enough room for one more gallery.

Anyway, I made temporary image set now into my photobucket.com account, there are just images, no text. If anyone wants some description, i am glad to help. Maybe in the same topic?

[vojtazbrna]

Ha, the same oil puddle like in mine. Did you figure out where it came from? I mean, it's not supposed to be there, right? So where did it come from?
I'm talking about this puddle

[aurorabrain]

Speaking about the oil puddle, i removed the intake from an '06 4.6l with 5k miles and still had a little oil down there chillin with the starter.

[eurora]

vojtazbrna said:

Ha, the same oil puddle like in mine. Did you figure out where it came from? I mean, it's not supposed to be there, right? So where did it come from?
I'm talking about this puddle

you are correct, it's not supposed to be here ;D.
in my case it was oil from steering pump - determined by color and leaking tray.

[vojtazbrna]

hm, you sure about that?
did your pump leak? did you replace it then? I had exactly the same puddle there, but couldn't figure out where it came from.

[eurora]

yes, I am sure.
First - there is no other source for this type of oil.
Second - on closer inspection I could see a leaking point itself (if memory serves me right, it was somewhere around pumps rear gasket).
Third - I had strange temporary steering oil loss previously for awhile (during some hi-speed miles), it stopped as suddenly as it started. As leak was stopped by then, I didn't replaced the pump, but it was replaced with reman'ed one 3 moths earlier (that fact made me somewhat angry). Due this find i regularly check steering fluid now, but no more anomalies noticed.

Do you at least remember what color this puddle was? Steering fluid is reddish, engine oil variates from golden to dirt-black . There is also minimal possibility to have a cooling fluid, but that would mean leaking head gasket (which i doubt as you use your car happily) and that should vaporize out. No other ideas currently.

[vojtazbrna]

mine looked dirt-black with some debris in it. i thought it was oil. plus, i check my steering fluid regularly and it's always full. who knows. i have no problems with my baby as for now, besides the miss, but that's something else. i'll just leave it at that. thanks for the post.

[dallas]

I don't think it could be anything else other than power steering fluid. Alecbeaton/eurora THANK YOU. For 200.00 I got a remanufactured starter with a lifetime warranty along with new gaskets. In my opinion 1000% better than some clown learning the same procedure and charging me 500.00 to do it! My 99 required a 10.00 tool set to remove the fuel line quick connect couplings. I listed this tool in Product Service Reviews section of this forum.

[martindaman]

Whoa My Dad Did this Yesterday in less then an hour, and we're putting in the other starter in today, thats why i had to read up on this, this should be stickied, but with pictures, if i had a digital camera id upload the work for this but i dont, so. . .

[sneezer]

Got mine out today, heading to O'Reillys for a reman replacement tonight. The vacuum port on top of the TB is cracked. Apparently at some point in its prior life it was cracked and someone attempted to fix it with some glue. Hopefully it will hold OK and I can get a new one from the dealer.

Overall not too bad, but you should plan on replacing many of the various hoses - some of mine appeared overdue.

*Update*

Got it on, cranks fine now. Not much trash down in the valley either, everything looked pretty good. Manifold gaskets looked fine too.

I'll need to see if the dealer has some fittings. I smeared some rubber goop on the TB fitting - hopefully that will last for a couple days. The fittings on the Map sensor were also brittle and cracked off. I was able to use some hose I had to make it work. However - since I can't get an elbow like stock I'll probably get some vacuum barb fittings and make new hose instead of using the hard plastic ones - the way it is now it puts stress on the TB fitting.

[dano853]

The pics submitted by EURORA should be a big help. I'm about to tackle this project and will let ya know how it goes. But I had to laugh. I couldnt figurte out where the starter was so I was telling people that GM put the starter in and then built the engine around it. I had no idea I was telling the truth.

[dano853]

oh and I forgot to ask... Whats a "TB"?

[sneezer]

dano853 said:

oh and I forgot to ask... Whats a "TB"?

Throttle Body.

[cbburtraw]

wow i was never aware the starter was IN the engine like that. Thats actually pretty swell. easier than trying to dig it out from underneath in a packed corner...

[97roara]

well it would be easyer if it was somwhere on the out side of the engine but .......... its not . i swapped mine out in about 2 hours . didint have to depressurize the fuel system or disconnect any of the injectors . i just unbolted the manifold and pulled some vac lines off and tilted the manifold up towards the drivers side hood strut and hooked it with a bungee cord to keep it out of the way while i worked on pulling / installing the starter . its less work and less mess . there was a ton of oil in the valley where the starter was . cleaned it all out and sealed alll around the head gaskets and around the top half of the valley with high temp rtv sealant . hope it worked . car starts better then it ever has !!! starter was $171 after tax at autozone . core was $30 but i already had it with me so 171 out the door ......... seems like a rip to me . but i cant complain since my rora is back on the road .


,Justin

[johna]

Eurora's photos belong in the starter replacement section of the '95 shop manual. Great job. ;D

[Randy T.]

Some starter related threads.


aurorah.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=1stgen&thread=2774&page=1


The thread below also has some good pics and info about the intake backfire valve.


aurorah.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=1stgen&action=display&thread=3865&page=1


aurorah.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=1stgen&thread=4023&page=1


aurorah.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=1stgen&thread=4086&page=1

[jacobsdr]

So I have a bunch of pictures from my starter change which was on a 97. I tried to upload the pictures and that was a fail, I can provide links to my google+ account where I currently have them.

[RCA1186]

Did you try somewhere like tinypic.com or photobucket.com

[bobsblue95]

I had to change my starter yesterday and figured I'd try to save a few steps.
Turns out you don't need to disconnect much from the intake manifold to be able to lift it enough to access the starter...

 

All I disconnected/removed was the Intake tube, brake booster vacuum hose, PCV and front EGR tube.
From the O.P. list, skip steps 5-13 basically.
I used a jack handle to hold it up while I swapped starters. Worked well and would also be a good way to spot a leaky injector.

[XJSman89]

^^I second what Bob said. Don't have to remove nearly as much as the OP said. Just disconnect intake and PCV and stuff and hold the manifold out of the way. The whole swap, including putting on new intake gaskets (piece of cake) took maybe 30 minutes. Just be careful not to knock any grit down in the open intake ports!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 using ProBoards

[RCA1186]

Feb 19, 2015 13:41:45 GMT -6 bobsblue95 said:

I had to change my starter yesterday and figured I'd try to save a few steps.
Turns out you don't need to disconnect much from the intake manifold to be able to lift it enough to access the starter...

 

All I disconnected/removed was the Intake tube, brake booster vacuum hose, PCV and front EGR tube.
From the O.P. list, skip steps 5-13 basically.
I used a jack handle to hold it up while I swapped starters. Worked well and would also be a good way to spot a leaky injector.

Just going to second (actually maybe this would be a "third") you can in fact lift the intake enough to change the starter.

My list of removals

- the three vacuum hoses that run to the top of the intake near the throttle body

- brake booster hose

- EGR tube (removed one end and carefully bent out of the way) (13mm bolt)

- the four front spark plug wires

- the intake tube

- on '98 and '99 there is a fuel rail ground wire on the far left side near the power steering pump that needs to be removed (13mm bolt)

I held mine up using a bungee cord to the hood latch.

Getting the whole thing lifted up enough to access the starter will take 10-15 mins if that. Really easy job.

I'd also recommend cleaning the manifold gasket mating surfaces to prevent leaks, and of course replace the gaskets.

Tighten the intake back down starting from the center and working out in a circular pattern (torquing down to 89 IN/lbs)



I'd surmise that you could also change the backfire valve in this fashion too

[randnon]

I guess I am going to join in and say that I have changed 2 starters on my 95 over the last 15 years and did it the same way as bobsblue95. It worked great and taking too much apart only increases your chances of a bad connection or leaks later on. I would suggest that replacing the intake gaskets and checking for vacuum leaks in the backfire valve would be wise when all is accessible.
To my knowledge the backfire valve is no longer available and you need to source out a new "o" ring . I made a special wooden block with 2 slots to remove the valve. They can be difficult and then added an additional coil spring to the backfire valve to increase the pressure to help maintain a good seal.