328 starter motor removal

Hi folks, Have been looking with some trepidation at the rather awkward position of the starter motor in my 87 328. Before I attempt the required removal and replacement, any words of advice? Will it come out without removal of various pipes, exhausts and other nearby components. Please say yes

 

The level of difficulty depends on whether it's a Euro car or not.
If it is, there is a heat shield which covers it, which is held by two front manifold nuts which are very tricky to access.
But it is possible.
You would need to remove the LH wheel arch liner for access to the 3 bolts which mount the unit, this is easy. Then you need very good access under the car to disconnect the connections and remove the unit.
BTW Why are you removing it? There are often wiring issues which can appear to be starter problems. The favourite is the connector adjacent to the LH rear upper shock mount which carries the solenoid power from the ignition key, which can corrode and cause intermittent click but no cranking. The solenoid power also goes through various other connectors which are worth checking. The motor itself would be the least likely but what are the symptoms?

If the starter is definitely faulty, another approach you could take is remove the alternator, which makes the removal of starter much easier as you can pull it out from the right hand side, then take both the units to an auto electric place and get them reconditioned.

 

I replaced my starter with a high torque, low weight unit a while back. It was not that difficult,but I was using a lift. The alternator I believe is a much more difficult job,as it doesn't really slide out due to size constraints.Disconnect your battery cables first.

 

Good morning! For what it's worth, I had the experience of replacing my GT4's starter a few weeks ago. Very intimidating at first due to the tight space involved, as you have seen. There was no way on my car to remove it until I loosened the header bolts. This was made much easier by getting a set of very long socket extensions ($10 @ Harbor Freight). I was able to rotate the starter then to a nose-down position and tease it out, like delivering a baby.
I wish you the best of luck and success in your task. In my case it was very rewarding after fitting the new starter and finding that it spun the engine probably twice as fast as the old one, ALMOST like a V12 firing up!
Ed

 

Seems to be behaving itself 1 week down the track - perhaps it was the earth strap (the end of the bolt was a bit corroded, although not the threads or hex bit), or a dodgy connector by the rear shock as you suggest Andy. cheers

 

If the starter spins at normal speed, the bendix should throw out into position. If the starter is spinning but the bendix does NOT throw out, then the Bendix is faulty. When going bad they can be very erratic as you are seeing. If there is enough current to spin the starter, there is enough to engage the bendix. However, once the bendix engages, a questionable connection could limit the current sufficiently where the starter could not spin the engine.

 

These starters dont have Bendix drives. The pinion is not thrown out by the motor turning, its pushed into engagement by the solenoid.

 

I'm having a similar problem. Took the battery (an Interstate) into Firestore and they called it "marginal" and gave me a new one under warranty (this is the third Interstate battery in 3 years... not impressive). But that wasn't it.

As the problem got worse I was getting no starting noise whatsoever -- no fuel pump, no solenoid, no starter. But a quirky thing I found was that when I unplugged the connector by the rear suspension mount and measured the current in the thick white wire to the solenoid, the solenoid would actually fire. So that connection must be bad, but it's not the only bad one because I was only getting 7 V there. I have a feeling there's a problem in the ignition switch because it would sometimes fire briefly as I released the key.

But I ultimately gave up and brought it to the shop because I found a MASSIVE thicket of wires and general anarchy under the dash due to the security system installed when new, and I just didn't want to go there. I'm getting that all removed to bring things to a state of symplicity.

I did find a ton of good threads on this issue here that gave me a bunch of things to check, so it's worth spending some time searching.

 

Years ago I had a rangerover that turned over but only fired as you released the key. A new (and I think importantly, bigger) battery was the solution.

 

If you are pulling the starter, definitely consider going with a high torque version. I did that on a '78 308 that I owned, and when the time comes to change the starter on the 328, I'm going to high torque. It just works better, turns the engine over faster, and the new ones weigh about 9 lbs vs. 25 to 30 lbs for a stock starter. That said, if you decide to have it rebuilt, it's just a stock Bosch unit, and you can get it rebuilt at any old shop that does starters. If you opt for that route, since it is out, have the whole thing overhauled, not just the Bendix gear.

By the way, on the electrical front, it is worth checking the ground cable from your battery to the quick cutoff, and the cutoff itself. They get corroded over time, and if they get bad enough, it can cause the starter not to engage. In your case, since it sounds like the starter is turning but not engaging, it is probably the Bendix, not voltage. Voltage, the starter usually just clicks, not spin. If it is spinning but not engaging, that's probably the throw-out sticking.

 

I did a starter on my 328. It came out easily from the bottom. I had the car on a lift.
It's a Borsch unit and also fits VWs. I got one from NAPA. There is a ground strap in the engine compartment. Also remove your security system if you have one.

 

Mine turned out to be the ignition. Turning the key feels a million times better now and it fires up instantly. Go figure.

Alex had a sweet 512BB up on the lift when I picked up my ride -- love that car. (A 3X8 with a V12... what's not to like?!)

 

Ha! - I finally sorted it! After fitting a new starter motor achieved nothing but to make me considerably poorer and reduce my knuckles to bleeding stumps, I decided to rip out the dynatron alarm system. Hey presto - life!

 

Congratulations on the fix!

There's a bunch of extra wiring under the dash on my car and I'll have to get after it one day this summer. How did you determine what was OK to remove and what was factory?

 

The factory ones are the ones with the burned marks. Just kidding.

You go find the alarm brain box. It normally has a bunch of wires going into and out of the box. You chase down every single one of those wires and remove them. Especially the one that disables the starter solenoid relay.

 

A "FIRST" thing to do if acquiring a 3x8 with a previously installed alarm system is to remove it completely and return the wiring to oem configuration. Aftermarket alarms (on any car, in my experience) is only worthy of the trash can.

 

Mike's is excellent advice - rip it out! The 'brain' for mine was under the passenger footrest and all the wires led to behind the ignition (where it teed into various indicator wires, central locking etc, as well as the all-important white ignition wires). My only problem now is I have no keyless central locking function..not helped by a dead drivers side door actuator. Anybody know an easy fix or cheap replacement for that particular part 61329400?

 

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