Replaced a 617 starter today...
 

Well, we ordered a starter through Murray's Discount Auto Parts....it was a Bosch, re manufactured by "USA Industries", completely in the USA, not India, thankfully. It was only $99.99 + 20 core, and it was spotless and judging by the packaging (which describes all of what they do/replace on them) it was an excellent purchase.

As for removing the old one, I put the car up on ramps (it was the '83)...took my 18" 1/2drive breaker bar with a 1/2 to 3/8 adapter and a 10mm 3/8 drive Allen socket on it, and fit it up in the space by the starter. I had turned the wheels all the way to lock-right, which gave plenty of space under there. I cleaned out the bolts with brake cleaner, inserted the allen socket + breaker bar and rev'd up the biceps :D :D ;) Popped the upper bolt free in only a few seconds...wasn't very hard at all! :eek: I then proceeded to the lower bolt, which was harder, I really had to push on that one, my breaker bar started bending (just kidding :P ;) )...and it finally popped free. I then removed the wires and bracket, and soon had the thing laying on the ground in all its oily rusty glory.

I then installed the new one in the reverse order, bolted it all up and got it all set, hooked the battery back up, glowed, turned the key and it started instantaneously. :eek: That starter has some giddyup! :dizzy2: Needless to say, it works flawlessly, and the whole project only took about 2.8 hours + 1 hour to wash my arms off. :rolleyes: Cheap too, not even $145 total...and we'll get $20 back for the core! so $125.

Went waaay better than I expected it too. :D

Mines up this weekend.

I'm not sure how long the old starter had been on there, but I am guessing a good long while as the casing was pretty rusted and such. The critical factor that probably aided in the easy removal was that the previous mechanic had applied liberal amounts of an oily anti-seize to the main bolts that go through the bell housing. This prevented any corrosion at all and the bolts were actually still pretty shiny when I cleaned them off! I proceeded to re-goop them up with LocTite Antiseize compound before installing. :)

My SD still, somehow... has the original starter. Yes, it barely starts.

SD or D?
 

SD's are pretty easy to change out. Did mine in about 15 minutes. Heard D's are more difficult due to the restricted space. So which one was it? Also, I purchased a brand new starter, made in Europe for less than that. Can't remember the brand. But very happy with the performance. Amazing difference comapared to the OEM starter.

I got a Craftsmen U-joint, extension and adaptor set yesterday so I am ready to go! :D

Hijack
 

Would love to see a pic of that '66 3000 diesel. I would have PM'd, but you can't attach pics.....:o :o

I just got finished...didn't even need to use my new U-joint set. :( All I needed was a cheapo flex head ratchet with the Alan socket on it. Worst part was heaving it into place, and when the positive battery lead migrated back to the positive post...:eek:

616 and 617 turbo starters seem to have the same part #

Thats one thing the MB batteries haven't got, is a cover over the positive battery terminal...gotta be careful. :D Can always just lay a shop towel over the battery when its disconnected....

It must be the season. I just did the one on the 615 last weekend. I'm a cheap bastard, though...I grabbed one for $25 from the j/y.

As someone who's done a starter on both the m102 and m103 in the last year, I can honestly say that doing the one on the 240d was almost a guilty pleasure. A little greasier, but monkey-arms not required.

There's no problem if you disconnect the negative terminal, which should always be done first anyway.

The 2.4 engine is the 616...

The 615 is the 220d 2.2 engine I believe. ;)

D'oh, second time this week I made the same typo.

you guys need to be quiet about these starter failures. I don't want mine to let out just to join the party! :D

too late for me
:behead: