Starter Drive on 560SEC a DIY job?
 

Greetings all,

I have diagnosed a starting problem in my '89 560SEC as a bad starter drive.

Is this a do-it-yourself job or is it best left to the shop? The maintenance book shows that the starter is bolted onto the bell housing in two spots. It looks easy to pull, but is it? The book says nothing about the starter drive.

It's tempting to replace the starter drive alone, since it is much cheaper than the entire starter.

I am a competent diy type, but I'm no Larry Bible;)

Input please?

Regards,

Tom :)

Pulling the starter is a piece of cake, well sort of.

With the nose of the car levitating off the ground, crawl under and eyeball the starter. You'll see the lower bolt in plain sight and that it takes a 19mm socket and a holding wrench to remove it.

The other bolt is where you can't see it so easily. Find it. It should be a 10mm allen key pointing to the back of the car. The secrete to removing it is to get a 10mm allen key socket, a universal joint, and a 3 foot long extension rod. Starting at the rear of the transmission, just put the extension rod in and up towards the starter. The bolt will come out in a jiffy this way.

To actually get the starter out of the engine compartment once you disconnect it from the motor, turn the steering wheel hard right. (That's why you didn't use jack stands to hold up the car).

Assembly is the reverse of removal.

Warning: Don't take a wrench to the starter until after you disconnect the battery. Nothing will ruin your day like an engine compartment fire with you under the car.

-CTH

CTH,

Thanks for the detailed input. 3 foot extension for the socket wriench? I'll have to run over to visit my neighbor, the Snap-On dealer for that one!

I'll have to get one of those Snap-On car levitators too ;) .

Any other comments from anyone else?

Regards,

Tom

It's just a vanilla extension rod for a 3/8" drive ratchet.

-CTH

A STARTER DRIVE LISTS FOR $57.00
A REMAN STARTER FROM BOSCH LISTS FOR $160.00 AND COMES WITH A ONE YEAR WARRANTY.
WHILE THE STARTER IS OUT CHECK THE ENTIRE RING GEAR BY TURNING THE CRANKSHAFT.
MOST MISSED STARTS ARE CAUSED BY WORN RING GEARS!
MF

Thanks for your input, Mike, I'll check the ring gear.

I'll go out on a limb and make a prediction, I think the ring gear will look okay. That's because this car doesn't allow the starter to engage once the engine running. That's the most common way to chew up a ring gear, as far as I know.

Secondly, it doesn't seem like there's a "bad spot" on the ring gear, rather the starter spins once or twice, and then will successfully engage and turn over the engine. It isn't a situation where I have to manually turn the crankshaft to find a good spot on the ring gear.

Thanks for the price info, $57 seems like the going rate.

Regards,

Tom