My wife tried to start the 300D this morning.She came inside and said "it's just clicking,it won't turn over.
The starter has been making a lot of noise on/off lately.A sort of bearing-grinding noise after you let off the key.
It failed to start this morning,so I know it's going down-hill from there.Here's where I need help guys.I am a DYIer and there is an awesome auto eletric guy 3 miles from where I live so I want remove it myself and have it rebuilt to save $$.My book(Haynes) say the engine must be hoisted some-what to allow the bolts to be removed and then hoisted even further to remove the starter.I was studying the layout on the car itself and it just doesn't seem that this is necessary.I can reach down and feel the bolts from on top.Can anyone give some helpful procedure hints.I can tackle most any job.But, I don't have an engine hoist.Maybe someone could e-mail me step-by-step procedures.Could the engine be jacked from below rather than hoisting from above?I am going to search the forum while I await your input.I have to go away for 3 days so...THANKS IN ADVANCE!
P.S.It is a W124 chassis so any references should be for that.Thanks....Joe
spencer8@frontiernet.net(email me)
P.S.S. BTW... I did get it started,but who knows how long She'll last?


[Edited by C-5crewchief on 03-24-2001 at 01:29 PM]

Greetings Joe,

I have a 123 chassis but like anything else, there's always do arounds. They are stating the easiest method for you to support the weight of the starter from an awkward position. If you have at least 4-5 inches of clearance to pull the starter pinion housing back from the flywheel I see no need to jack up the engine. If you are going to hit something within this distance of travel, then they are proposing the angle of removal be changed, hence jacking up the engine. On mine, I changed it without jacking or removing anything except the mounting bolts and the attaching wires. It would have been easier to reach the inner attaching bolt had the engine been raised, but I managed and probably took me an additional 15 minutes of piddling.

Charles

......how silly I was to fret over this.I Put the car on ramps and removed the starter in about 20 minutes.Took me longer to get the lower covers off than to get the starter out!It was so easy I was kinda chuckling the whole time cause before I was thinkin' "Man,what am I gonna do?"Turns out to be one of the easiest starter changes I ever did.I had it professionally rebuilt by Ron's Auto Electric.I dropped it off a 11 am Thursday and it was ready at 4pm on Friday.He does an awesome job and uses all OEM parts.Cost me $145.00.If you're ever stuck in Orange county N.Y. with electrical woes look him up.He does free diag. too.25 years in the biz.Thanks for the help "can-do".
P.S. WHEW!!!!!!!

The starter in my '85 300D was making the same grinding noise, more so in cold weather. I pulled the starter, took it apart, and noticed a lot of junk on the solenoid - it was almost like dirt. Anyhow, I cleaned it up, put everything back together, and reinstalled the starter. Since I performed that quick fix, the starter has worked perfectly for 2 months of cold weather. Total cost: $0.00!

Hopefully your starter was worse off than mine was, otherwise you might've paid that shop to clean a piece of metal