[suprasmakemesmile]

i'm changing the starter on my 89 mkiii, I disconnected the battery, undid both connectors (the black clip and the one that was bolted on) and then I got the bottom through-bolt off, and I've been trying for the past 2 hours to get to the top one. I can barely squeeze my finger under the intake manifold to feel the bolt. i got a wrench on it, but there is ZERO room to rotate the wrench. How did you guys get the top through-bolt off of the starter? do i have to remove anything else to free up room? I've tried getting to it from under the car and from the engine bay, but I just can't seem to get to it, even with extensions and bendable pieces. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[3p141592654]

3 foot extension from behind the tranny and up over the bell housing.

 

[MKIIINA]

/\ bingo. locked myself out over here by accident. but a 2-3 ft extension and a swivel on end. Get the 91+ starter as it has threaded holes to ease install.

 

[cnewingham]

threaded starter is 91 and 92, I just bought a new starter for my 90 and was going to get the 91/92 until I was informed it was almost twice as much.

 

[3p141592654]

^ Yup! I can confirm the 90 starter has the annoying bolts. This job is so awful that I actually paid the Toyota Dealer to do it on my car. I had replaced the starter on my MKII myself and pledged I would never do it again!

 

[Guest]

for those anoying bolts they are easier to take of with a 18-24 extension from behind the a/c compressor and a 14mm wrench the bottom one is easier from the under side of the car

 

[aljordan]

Top bolt....

put a floor jack under the tranny and remove the 4 bolts that hold the rear tranny mount to the car. Once those are out, lower the rear of the tranny. This will allow you enough room to get 2 feet of extensions beside the tranny and onto that bolt. Put a wrench on the front bolt to hold, and turn it off.

 

[adam pecush]

wow, i had never thought of that back in the day when I was trying to deal with my starter contacts....but that would work perfectly. damn.

 

[suprasmakemesmile]

lol, i worked on this bitch for 6 hours yesterday, still couldn't get it, I tried swivel ends, etc. etc. etc. didn't do the tranny thing, that was too much for me to do on my driveway that's inclined with only one jack and two jack stands. I just dropped it off at the mechanic this morning. Thanks for the help though, now I know never to f*ck with the starter again. It's worth paying someone else to do it.

 

[aljordan]

I can get a starter out in about 30 minutes.

It's easy when you drop the rea of the tranny.

Really, you could have bought 2 more stands and had the job done. You're now gong to pay a mechanic $200 to do the job.

Heck.. you're in Irvine.. get a hold of LarryA. I'm sure he's done more than 4 starters in his time.

 

[suprasmakemesmile]

eh, i paid $40 to have it changed, worth it to me, only took 40 min. and I didn't have to do any prep, get dirty, or waste my time.

 

[aljordan]

Hmm. For $40. I'd have them do it as well. $40 isn't worth the hour to R&R.

Cool it was cheap.

 

[snake eyes]

yep, me and my old mechanic did mine, you need a LONG extention and a lift to do it the easiest, thou the blocks idea sounds good if mine goes bad

<l><l>

 

[a_zepeda9236]

there's a great writeup on doint this somewhere... i followed it and the job was not as hard as many people make it seem.. You might need a 2nd person to help though